A historic 113-year-old church in Sweden’s far north has begun a rare journey, being moved in its entirety across the city of Kiruna to a new location five kilometres away.

The relocation comes after years of preparation, as the old city centre faces risks of ground subsidence caused by over a century of iron ore mining.

The vast red timber church, built in 1912 and once voted Sweden’s most beautiful pre-1950 building, has been raised onto massive rolling platforms for the move.

Travelling at a maximum speed of 500 metres an hour, the process will take two days and marks the most symbolic step in the wider relocation of Kiruna to safer ground.

“It’s like, finally, let’s get it done. We’ve been waiting for so many years,” said culture strategist Sofia Lagerlöf Määttä, reflecting the relief and anticipation in the community.

Project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson, who is leading the move, described it as a task with no room for mistakes.

“It’s a historic event, a very big and complex operation and we don’t have a margin of error. But everything is under control," he said.

By the mid-2010s, many of Kiruna’s buildings had already been shifted, either rebuilt or physically moved.

Among them were the so-called yellow row of wooden houses and the former home of mining manager Hjalmar Lundbohm, which was split into three sections.

The clock tower of the old city hall was also relocated and now stands next to the new city hall.

Kiruna sits 145 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle and has long depended on mining. Swedish law prevents mining beneath buildings, but fissures from underground activity would eventually damage vital infrastructure.

“There’s no risk of people falling through cracks. But fissures would eventually damage the water, electricity and sewage supply. People have to move before the infrastructure fails,” explained Robert Ylitalo, head of the city’s development company.

The mine operator, LKAB, which is also Kiruna’s largest employer, is funding the relocation project at a cost of more than 10 billion Swedish krona ($1bn; £737m).

Kiruna Church is 35 metres high, 40 metres wide and weighs 672 tonnes. Engineers have reinforced it with steel beams and placed it on self-propelled modular transporters.

“The biggest challenge was preparing the road for such a wide building,” Johansson said.

“We’ve widened it to 24 metres and along the way we removed lampposts, traffic lights as well as a bridge that was slated for demolition anyway.”

Special care is being taken to protect the church’s treasures, including its altar painting by Prince Eugen of Sweden and its organ with 1,000 pipes.

“It’s not something hanging on a hook that you just take off,” Johansson explained. “It’s glued directly onto a masonry wall so it would have been difficult to remove without damage. So it will remain inside the church during the move, fully covered and stabilised.”

For many residents, the relocation is an emotional moment. “The church has served as a spiritual centre and a gathering place for the community for generations,” said Lagerlöf Määttä, recalling her first childhood visit with her grandmother.

“The move has brought back memories of joy and sorrow to us, and we’re now moving those memories with us into the future.”

Johansson, who also sings in the church’s gospel choir, admitted the task was personal.

“This is a very special task for me. The church was built over 100 years ago for the municipality by LKAB. Now we move it to the new city. There simply can’t be any other way.”

The church’s vicar, Lena Tjärnberg, said the relocation carried both gratitude and sadness.

“The church is leaving a place where it truly belongs. Everyone knows it has to be relocated: we live in a mining community and depend on the mine. I’m grateful that we’re moving the church with us to the new city centre but there is also sorrow in seeing it leave the ground where it became a church.”

As the church begins its slow journey, thousands of residents and visitors, including King Carl Gustaf, are expected to line the route.

Swedish television will broadcast the entire event live as “slow TV”, marking a rare moment in history when a community takes its memories and traditions with it—brick by brick, but without dismantling them.