Lielais Akmens

Kempingas, Rigas regions

This large boulder near the confluence of the Runtiņupīte stream and the Gauja river in Krimulda parish, Sigulda municipality, measures about 2.5 meters high, 5.3 meters long, and 3.7 meters wide, with a volume of roughly 25 cubic meters. Local folklore calls it Velnakmens, the Devil's Stone, claiming the devil once sat on it watching over the valley until a rooster's crow drove him off, and records dating to 1739 describe peasants leaving offerings at the site for generations. Around the start of the 20th century the stone stood directly on the Gauja's bank and local youths would jump from it into the river, but the channel has since shifted and it now sits more than 50 meters from the water.