Kvikkjokk

Kvikkjokk lies where mountain rivers meet Lake Saggat in Swedish Lapland. Its settlement grew around a silverworks established in the 1660s to smelt ore brought down from the mountains. Sámi transporters carried ore over long distances by reindeer sledge, linking the mines and the smelter through a landscape of lakes and high fells. Mining and refining were most active in the later seventeenth century, but production ceased in 1702 and many workers departed. A priest continued to live at Kvikkjokk, serving the widely dispersed community. Its first chapel was built in 1763, long after the silverworks had lost its earlier importance.