Järnpojken, the boy who looks at the moon

Look carefully, because he is easy to miss. On that little iron bench sits Järnpojken, 'the Iron Boy', also known as 'the boy who looks at the moon'. He is barely fifteen centimetres tall and claims to be the smallest public monument in Sweden.

1A work from 1967

The sculptor Liss Eriksson made him in 1967, and he was placed here, in the courtyard of Bollhustäppan, behind the Finnish Church. That building was a hall for real tennis, the ancestor of modern tennis, before becoming a church in 1725, which is why the courtyard bears its name: bollhus means 'ball house'. The courtyard itself was created in the 1960s when some old houses were pulled down, and it was named in 1970.

2Rituals for luck

Nobody quite knows when it began, but visitors leave coins at his feet, pat his head for luck and make a wish. His head shines from all the rubbing. When the cold arrives, anonymous neighbours knit him little hats and scarves. It is a modern tradition, born from people rather than any ancient legend, and that is precisely its charm.

The boy gazes upwards, hugging his knees, as if counting the stars above the roofs of Gamla stan.

Remember the sculptor's name: Liss Eriksson also made the altarpiece of Katarina Church, where this route ends.

3What to look for

• The polished head, rubbed by thousands of hands.
• The coins from half the world at his feet.
• The Finnish Church, once a hall for ball games.