The exterior form
A roof falling to the ground, drawn from the Sámi lavvu.
Rünno — Public domain · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arild Vågen — CC BY-SA 4.0
A huge red timber building standing on a rise above Kiruna, voted by Swedes in 2001 **the most beautiful building in Sweden built before 1950**. Its shape is entirely unfamiliar: a wide low roof falling from a central peak almost to the ground on every side, so from a distance it reads more like a **Sámi lavvu** than a church. That was deliberate — the architect **Gustaf Wickman** wanted a building belonging to northern Sweden rather than to Stockholm. It was built between 1909 and 1912 at the expense of the mining company **LKAB**, entirely of **pine** and painted in traditional red. Inside is a single wide space without columns, its timber exposed, with a large painted altarpiece behind the altar. The impression is warm and intimate, which its exterior size does not prepare you for. Note: the thing that makes it remarkable now — **the entire church was moved** in August 2025. It was raised onto giant transporters and travelled five kilometres to the new town site over two days, while residents lined the road to watch.
A roof falling to the ground, drawn from the Sámi lavvu.
One hall with no columns, its timber exposed and warm.
Five kilometres in two days, with the town lining the road.
Kyrkogatan, Kiruna
Because the mine that created it is eating the ground beneath it. **Kiirunavaara** is the largest underground iron mine in the world, and its ore body is **inclined** rather than vertical — so the deeper the mining goes, the further it runs horizontally towards the town. Extracting the ore leaves a void, and the rock above cracks and gradually subsides. The choice became either **close the mine** the entire town lives on, or **move the town**. The move was chosen in 2004: a new centre was built three kilometres east, most buildings are demolished with their owners compensated, but around twenty historic structures are being **lifted and carried across whole** — the church the most famous of them. The process began in 2014 and runs into the 2040s.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.