ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR BANSKO (Vladimir Baryakov – vlbaryakov@mail.bg) The site is situated on an elevation. The fortified area is c. 0.5 ha. The fortification wall is constructed of cut stones bonded with mortar. There is an Early Christian basilica on the top of the elevation. There were buildings in the area around the church. The excavations were carried out to the east of the church. An area of 448 sq. m was explored. Parts of buildings were discovered. They adjoin a fortification wall on the southern slope of the elevation, oriented east – west and 80 cm wide. The buildings are parallel. They consist of parallel rooms arranged in a line. The walls are 60 cm wide and are constructed of cut stones bonded with mortar. The walls are preserved up to 1.60 m in height. Parts of the pavement of square bricks, 35 cm by 35 cm by 4 cm in size, were preserved. The roofs were covered with tegulae. Two secondary Christian burials without grave goods were discovered. Four intact dolia placed in pits under the floor level and fragments of dolia were discovered. They testify to the farming functions of the rooms. The coins, which were found during the excavations, date from the 3rd to 14th centuries. The pottery is predominantly Late Antique, but there is Thracian and Mediaeval pottery, too. The finds include small iron knives, arrowheads, spearheads, iron and lead part-finished items that testify to metallurgical activities, loom weights, fragments of glass windows, fragmentary glass vessels and a head of human bronze figurine.