A 120-year-old lighthouse has been put on wheels and rails to attempt to move it about 80m from the North Sea, which has been eroding the coastline of northwestern Denmark.
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When the 23m tall Rubjerg Knude lighthouse was first lit in 1900, it was roughly 200m from the coast, Now it's only about 6 m away.
Mayor Arne Boelt said "many things can go wrong" when moving the defunct lighthouse, weighing more than 900 tonnes and sitting atop a cliff 60m above sea level.
"But it's worth the risk ... the alternative would to dismantle the lighthouse," he said.
The move is expected to last 10 hours at a speed of 8m an hour.
Environment Minister Lea Wermelin has called the white, square lighthouse "a national treasure" to explain why ministry spent five million kroner ($A1.09 million) to save it.
Boelt and the town of Hjoerring also have chipped in to foot the bill.
The lighthouse ceased operating in 1968 and was briefly turned into a museum, including an exhibit about the structure's struggle against sand drift.
In the end, it was closed because of shifting sands that slowly buried the two buildings adjacent to the lighthouse. The lighthouse, however, still gets more than 250,000 visitors each year.
The move, broadcast live on major Danish news outlets, depended on the weather, which was fair in the region.
Thirty minutes into the operation, the lighthouse had been moved 1.4m.
Australian Associated Press
