Couple Eva-Karin Nilsson and Dan Nilsson have traveled all the way from Linköping to see the church's journey, which according to plan will arrive at its new location between the cemetery and the new center around lunchtime on Wednesday.
I'm an old Norrbottening so I have to get her up here, I moved down to Linköping 17 years ago but this is so interesting, says Dan Nilsson.
The Prince's Altarpiece
Eva-Karin Nilsson says that the church – with Prince Eugen's large altarpiece "The Holy Grove" – is the most beautiful she knows.
It's completely amazing, she says about the painting, which is five meters long and almost four meters high.
We were here two years ago and then we were down in the mine and got to see the reason for the move. So we understand why it has to happen, and it's exciting that you can move it like this, she continues.
Preserving the church is a must, says Dan Nilsson.
It's something historical, it can't be destroyed.
Bo Henriksson was born in Kiruna, moved from the city as a one-year-old but came back as a 12-year-old, and lived here for 30 years. He still has an apartment in Kiruna but doesn't live permanently in the city.
Here you've experienced everything, baptisms, funerals, weddings, confirmations, school graduations, concerts, everything. I'm not particularly religious myself, but I like going into the church, it definitely has its own character. It doesn't resemble any other church.
Damage to Buildings
The ongoing city move sees him with some melancholy, and he says it's tough to see everything being demolished.
Where I've worked, where I've grown up, where my children were born. It's a bit brutal, says Bo Henriksson.
But damage from subsidence is visible on many of the buildings, he says.
Especially those who live here notice it, doors that are skewed and so on, he says with a little laugh.
That communities change is nothing new, the difference in Kiruna today is the speed at which the transformation and city move is happening, he says.
Eventually, it will become memories too. So it's up to them to judge it, not us old guys.
"The Great Church Wander", as it's called by LKAB, he will follow on site on Tuesday.
Yes, I've said that if it goes wrong, it'll be the world's biggest mess anyway. No, we have to hope that everything goes well.
Kiruna Church was designed by the architect Gustaf Wickman (1858-1916), and was inaugurated in 1912.
It was built on a height in the city center at the time and is something of a landmark for Kiruna.
The church, barely 40 meters wide and 40 meters long, is one of Sweden's largest wooden buildings and is said to be inspired by, among other things, Norwegian stave churches and Sami huts.
In 2001, it was named Sweden's All-Time Best Building (built before 1950), in competition with, among other things, the Museum of Work in Norrköping and the City Hall in Stockholm. The nomination took place at the Architecture Day in Stockholm.
