Kiruna: the city moving itself to avoid sinking

The LKAB Mine, the world's largest underground iron mine, offers guided tours descending hundreds of meters below the surface through still-active galleries.

Just steps away, the Kiruna Church, built in wood in the shape of a Sami tent at the turn of the century, has recently been dismantled and relocated to the new city center.

Continuing on, one visits the Town Hall, which was also transferred piece by piece to the new city center due to mining subsidence.

On clear nights between late August and April, the Northern Lights are visible here with a frequency among the highest in the world thanks to the Arctic latitude.

The entire center of Kiruna is being gradually rebuilt several kilometers to the east, a unique urban project dictated by the necessity of avoiding sinking into the mining tunnels excavated directly beneath the original buildings.

The Kiruna mine has produced iron uninterruptedly for over a century, and its estimated reserves would guarantee mining activity for several more decades.