And Sadko made his way to Ilmen the lake;
And he sat on a blue crying rock
And hit the strings of his maple gusli,
To play night and day, day and night.
The Blue Rock is a large glaciated boulder visible above the water of Lake Ilmen, about 400 m from the shore, near the village of Zamlenye. The rock is a natural heritage site of the Novgorodsky Municipal District.
Locals have known about the rock since the olden days. Presumably, it was used in rituals. The etchings visible on the surface of the rock may be traces of ancient writings. The shape of the boulder is close to a rounded triangle, 4 х 4 х 3.5 m. Its height is 1.5 m. It is a brownish grey fine- and medium-grained granite, with a smooth polished surface and several small cracks. Stripes of two colours, greyish brown and blue, can be seen on the top. There is a small standing spot on the top of the rock. During low tides, the sandy bottom can be seen at the foot of the rock.
