The whole church begins with a two -day journey through the Swedish city of Kiruna

A A special 113-year-old Church, which is at risk, moves in full 5 km (3 mile) on the road in northern Sweden.

The huge structure of red wood in the Circle dating from 1912 was raised on the giant Rolling platforms and will now start moving to the new city center.

Travel at a maximum speed of 500 m per hour is expected to travel two days.

The old city center is at risk of the land after more than a century of iron ore mining. The crossing of the church is the most entertaining and symbolic moment of the wider relocation of buildings in the Corano, which is 145 km north of the Arctic circle.

According to Culture strategist Sofia Lagelof Määtätä, “it’s finally let’s do it. We’ve been waiting for so many years.”

“We have done so much preparation,” says the project, the project manager Stefan Holmebld Johansson.

“This is a historical event, a very big and complex operation, and we have no mistake. But everything is under control.”

His self -control reflects the years of planning.

By the mid-2010s, other buildings were already moving to safer land. Most were demolished and restored, but some attractions were carried untouched.

These include buildings in the Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården, such as the so -called yellow row of three old wooden houses and the former Harna Riga Company House Hjalmar Lundbohm, which was divided into three parts.

A clock tower on the roof of the old City Hall was also postponed, and now it can be found near the new City Hall.

According to the Swedish law, mining cannot occur in buildings.

Robert Illitola, Chief Executive Director of the Corunum, explains: “There is no risk when people get through cracks. But cracks will eventually damage the water, electricity and sewer. People should move before the infrastructure fails.”

Iron Ore Maller Operator, LKAB – also the largest employer of the direction – covers the city’s relocation bill, estimated in the Swedish crane of more than 10 billion ($ 1 billion; £ 737 million).

Church of 35 m (115 feet), 40 m wide and weighs 672 tons. He was once recognized as the most beautiful building until 1950 in Sweden.

Moving such a large building is an unusual feat. But instead of dismantling it, engineers move it into one piece, are supported by steel rays and transferred to self -directed modular transporters.

“The biggest problem was the preparation of the road to such a wide building,” says the project manager M -n Johansson.

“We have expanded it to 24 meters (79 feet), and on the way we removed the lamps, traffic lights, as well as the bridge that was planned in any case.”

Among the most delicate aspects of this step is the protection of the church’s internal treasures, especially its great color made by Prince Eugene, a member of the royal family of Sweden.

“This is not what hangs on the hook you just flew,” says Mr. Johansson.

“It is glued directly on the stone wall, so it would be difficult to remove without damage. So, it will remain in the church while driving, fully covered and stabilized. So it will be an organ with its 1000 pipes.”

This step is much more than an engineering diva for the locals is a deep emotional moment.

“The church served as a spiritual center and a place for society for generations,” says Sofia Lagerlef Maatta, who remembers how for the first time as a child with her grandmother, she went to memory.

“This step has returned us to the memories of joy and sadness, and we are now moving these memories with us to the future.”

Such a feeling is also shared by the project manager Stefan Holmebld Johansson, an engineer who acts as a member of the gospel choir of the church.

“This is a very special task for me,” he says. “The church was built more than 100 years ago for the LKAB municipality. We are now moving it to a new city. There may be no other way.”

For the vicar of the church, Lena Ternberg, at this point, made sense.

“The church leaves a place where it really belongs,” she says.

“Everyone knows that it needs to be moved: we live in a mining community and depend on the mine. I am grateful that we move the church with us to the new city center, but there is also sadness when it leaves the land where it became the church.”

As the massive walls of the Corunum Church begin inch forward, thousands of residents and visitors – Sweden, King Carl Gustaf, it is assumed that this is the route.

Swedish television also broadcasts The whole way lives as a “slow TV”, noting the rare moment when a piece of history is not just undergoing changes – it moves with it.