Church of Kiruna, Sweden
On a trip in “Slow Camera”, a trailer train is transporting the Church of Kiruna to a new place, to give way to expansion of the largest underground mine in Europe.
A Kiruna churcha Swedish Lutheran Church inaugurated in 1912 is being slowly transported to its new home, at a half-kilometer rhythm per hour, on a trip that started this Tuesday and will last two days.
Kiruna is the northernmost city of the country, 200 kilometers above the Arctic Polar Circle, and is home to about 23,000 inhabitants – including members of the Sami indigenous people.
In 2001, the Swedish audience voted for the church of Kiruna as the “Best building of all time, built before 1950”in a poll linked to the Ministry of Culture.
In a gigantic operation that will last several decades, The whole city of the Arctic is being shifted As an iron ore mine explored by state -owned mining company LKAB threatens to swallow the city, with residents start to see cracks in buildings and roads.
To prevent Kiruna from being swallowed – authorities began to move buildings to a new city center at a safe distance from the mine. The Swedish law prohibits that any mining activity takes place under buildings.
The change in the city center has been in preparation since 2004, but not everyone is pleased with this move.
Lars-Marcus CommunePresident of one of the organizations of Reindeer Sami Pastors in Kiruna, told LKAB’s plans for a new mine may threaten reindeer migration routes and endanger the subsistence of pastors in the region.
The church, designed by Gustaf Wickmanit is just one of 23 cultural buildings to be relocated to what LKAB has described as “A unique event in history but that’s what is drawing the most attention.
Dozens of cameras have been installed along the route to allow people throughout Sweden and in the world watch live on the way.
As it writes, the church should reopen in its new location at the end of next year, but the full relocation of the city should not be completed before 2035.
