Kiruna — The Moving City

Kiruna is Sweden's northernmost city (about 23,000 inhabitants) and is located 145 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. The city is known for two things: the largest iron ore mine in the world (LKAB Kiirunavaara) and the fact that it is currently moving — an urban experiment that is unique worldwide.

★★★ The Moving City — Kiruna's Relocation

Mining has made Kiruna rich for over 120 years — but now the mine is literally eating its way under the city. The LKAB mine (in operation since 1898) now extends 1,365 meters deep and continuously expands northward. The problem: The subsidence in the underground threatens the city above. Cracks appear in streets, buildings become unstable.

The solution is as crazy as it is fascinating: Since 2014, Kiruna has been relocated 3 kilometers to the east. Not simply demolished and rebuilt — no: Historic buildings are physically moved. The famous Kiruna Church (Kiruna Church, 1912), once voted the most beautiful building in Sweden and a masterpiece in the Art Nouveau national romantic style (a wooden church that looks like a Sami tent), was completely relocated in 2025 in a complex process — an engineering marvel that the world press followed.

The New City Center (Nya Kiruna) is being built around the Kristallen — the new town hall, a spectacular building made of steel and glass (designed by Henning Larsen Architects), which opened in 2018 and looks like a giant iron crystal from the outside. Inside: Civic center, library, tourist information, and a café with a view of the new city growing around the Kristallen. The mix of pioneering spirit, pragmatism, and architectural vision is fascinating — Kiruna is a living experiment in urban transformation.

★★ LKAB Mine

The LKAB iron ore mine (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag) has been in operation since 1898 and is the largest underground iron ore mine in the world. The numbers are dizzying: 1,365 meters deep, over 400 kilometers of underground roads (you drive through the mine by bus!), extraction volumes of 28 million tons per year. The iron ore (with one of the highest purity levels in the world) is transported by ore train 170 km to Narvik (Norway) and shipped from there.

Guided mine tours take visitors 540 meters underground — you descend into a huge tunnel by bus, see the massive extraction halls, hear the history of mining, and understand why the city has to move. A fascinating, slightly oppressive-impressive experience. The temperature underground: constant +8°C.

Mine tours: daily, 3 hours, pre-book. 420 SEK (37 €). Minimum age: 6 years. Sturdy shoes and warm clothing (it's cool underground).

★ Esrange Space Center

Only 40 kilometers from Kiruna, the Swedish Space Agency operates the Esrange Space Center — a rocket launch base that has been launching sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons since 1966. Esrange is ideally located: sparsely populated, close to the Arctic Circle (ideal for atmospheric research), and active as a European satellite launch site since 2024. Occasionally, visits are possible — the proximity to space in this remote arctic landscape has something surreal.