In 2001, the Swedish people voted the wooden church the “best building of all time, built before 1950” in a poll connected to the Ministry of Culture. Built on a hill so worshippers could overlook Kiruna, the Swedish Lutheran church was designed to emulate the Sami style as a gift from LKAB, the state-owned mining company.

The Kiruna Church is being moved this week along a three-mile route east as part of the town’s relocation. It’s happening because the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town.

A church in Sweden is being moved three miles up the road over two days, in a major operation to save it from subsidence. Kiruna Church is being moved to a new location, slowly traversing an Arctic road to protect its historic wooden structure from problems caused by the expansion of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine.