EXPLORATIONS IN DUROSTORUM – DRASTAR (Georgi Atanasov – geoatal@abv.bg, Nikolai Russev, Denislav Denev) The explorations of the southern fortification wall continued in Sector East. Triangular tower/bastion No. 6, pentagonal tower No. 7 and the fortification wall between them were discovered. The fortification was constructed of three courses of ashlars and bricks above them, preserved up to 18 courses in height. The ashlars and the bricks were bonded with mortar and the emplectum between both faces of the wall consisted of uneven stones and mortar. The western side of tower/bastion No. 6 was 3.76 m long, the eastern side was 3.82 and the northern side was 4.20 m. The fortification wall between towers Nos. 6 and 7 was 12.10 m long and 3.60 m wide. The southeastern side of tower No. 7 was 6.40 m long, the northeastern side was 5.78 m, the southwestern side was 5.79 m and the northwestern side was 6.08 m. The wall of the tower was 2.80 m wide. A Latin inscription was reused as spolia in the fortification wall at tower No. 7. A Christian grave of the 14th century was discovered near the inner side of the wall. During the excavations, 50 coins were found: one minted by Septimius Severus, two minted by Constantine the Great, 12 Roman and Late Antique of the 3rd – 5th centuries AD, 11 anonymous Byzantine folles of Classes А, А1, А3, В, D and І (10th – 11th centuries), one minted by Nikephoros III Botaneiates, one Bulgarian of the 13th century, one minted by the Bulgarian King Ivan Alexander (1331 – 1371), one Latin imitation of the 13th century, one Ottoman or Tatar of 14th century, one West European of 15th – 16th century, one Ottoman of 18th – 19th century and 17 unidentified. The section of the southern fortification wall explored so far was c. 100 m long. It included a fortification gate flanked by two ellipsoid towers, three triangle and three pentagonal towers, alternating in c. 12 m. Castellum Dorostolum was built in the 6th century AD, probably during the reign of Justinian I. It had a polygonal or trapezoidal layout with a maximum size of 250 m by 350 m. Around the beginning of the 9th century AD, the fortification was reconstructed by the Bulgarian Khans. In 1810, during the Russo-Turkish War (1806 – 1812), the fortification was destroyed by Russian artillery fire.