Bromsgatan, Kiruna

morning in Bromsgatan

There are thousands of snow covered apartments and streets in Europe, so why Bromsgatan!! Not that it is a big tourist attraction .. nothing unusual is here than a quiet snow covered neighbourhood ..then why I am posting it?  Because my friends, soon it is going to be part of history …

As many of you may know, the Kiruna mine is the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world. The Kiruna mine has an ore body which is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) long, 80 metres (260 ft) to 120 metres (390 ft) thick and reaching a depth of up to 2 kilometres (1.2 mi). Since mining began at the site in 1898, the mine has produced over 950 million tonnes of ore.

But more to that, the figures mentioned are only the depth and breath LKAB, the mining company has been able to explore. But tests show, the ore body has gone far far deeper down the earth and the exact depth of the ore-body is not known to anyone. Also it is extended in every direction from the current mining site , so that the whole present  Kiruna town has iron ores under it.

As a result of this rich natural resources, an unique event is going in Kiruna, the world has never seen. As the mining site extends from where it is currently ,the city is on the move!! Yes you heard it correctly.  The whole city of Kiruna is gradually moving to a safer distance.

So, Kiruna became the wonder city which is going to be completely moved within 2020. Many of the privately owned houses are intactly being transported whereas many of the LKAB own apartments are being destroyed. The house I stayed while first time in Kiruna has already been down and where I am living now is going to be crushed in the end of January. So, all of the house  you see in the picture are going to be vanished within next 4 years, and these photographs will be their memoir.

Though it  appears  to be a quite difficult job to move a city,but Koruna certainly have one advantage.  Though kiruna  municipality  is the largest city municipality area of the world or at least it was in 1948, it has a population of roughly 23000 as on March 31, 2015. Only 19000 of them lives in the Kiruna city, whereas rest are living in the other 6 small villages included the municipality. So, ultimately, not a huge population  (in terms of a city)needs relocation.

 

Every night at 1.30 am the buildings awaken by one or two jerks like earthquake, after midnight they conduct the blasts in the mine to extract ores. So, we get a hint, if mine extends, the city need to move to avoid destruction and accidents.

ice covered LKAB

Now the LKAB is covered by the snow, but I like the christmas tree made of lights over the hill top. I see it from my balcony, specially at night when it is glowing in the dark. Throughout the holidays, it kept the festive mood in this quiet and cold part of the planet. In the dark, when all the lights are on in the night’s background, the mine looks like giant cruise ship from my kitchen.

One thing is very interesting in Bromsgatan, and perhaps over Kiruna is the sky. It is never of the same color. Staring from the dawn, it is pink, orange, red, blue, white, purple,violet and dark and then there are lots of polar phenomena, the light pillars, northern lights and colourful stratospheric clouds due to damaged ozone layers.

Burning orange sunset at 11.56 am

soft pink dawn

Stratospheric clouds

sunrise

Fire in the sky.

Mystic blue morning

Northern lighten night: the ring of green fire above the Bromsgatan sky

Jet black evening

From bromsgatan, the city centre is walkable. And on the way you can see the Kiruna city hall. The tower has a history of long architectural changes and when the city moves, the plan is to keep the tower intact and plant it to the new city centre.

Kiruna city hall and the clock tower

Panorama from my balcony.

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