
The historic Swedish red timber church, Kiruna Kyrka, is to relocate amid risk from the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine.
According to France 24, the landmark 113-year-old church will be moved five kilometres (three miles) on a massive lorry in one piece to the new Kiruna town on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 20.
The 672-tonne, 40-metre (131-foot) high building dating back to 1912 will move on a road in Sweden's far north at a maximum speed of 500 m an hour after over a century of iron ore mining has put the city at risk from ground fissures.
Project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson said, “We've done so much preparation. It's a historic event, a very big and complex operation, and we don't have a margin of error. But everything is under control."
The relocation of the wooden church is the most dramatic and symbolic part of the relocation project of Kiruna's wider building.
More than 10,000 people are expected to line the streets to witness the complicated and pricey logistical operation.
Furthermore, the Swedish TV that has set up 30 cameras along the route will broadcast the whole journey of church relocation live.
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will also be in Kiruna following the relocation of the church, as the whole town centre is being moved because of risks from the massive iron-ore mine.