EXPLORATIONS NEAR VRATSA (Nartsis Torbov – natorbov@abv.bg) An Early Byzantine church was discovered, built in the 6th century AD during the reign of Justinian I and destroyed by the Slavs. Its walls, 1 – 1.25 m wide, were constructed of ashlars bonded with lime. The apse was preserved more than 1.50 m in height and its outer face was plastered with mortar. The outer side of the apse was pentagonal and its interior was semicircular, 4.50 m in diameter. The nave was 6 m wide and 6.35 m long (without the apse). The finds included coins, jewelry and pottery. During the Middle Ages, other buildings were constructed over the church. The citadel of the fortress had irregular layout. Its fortification walls were built of ashlars with an emplectum of uneven stones and mortar. Quadrangle Tower No. 1 was situated on the western fortification wall and triangle Tower No. 2 was situated on the eastern fortification wall. To the south, both fortification walls were connected with a building, probably barracks. A second fortification wall with similar structure was documented, situated to the south of the citadel. The first occupation period of the site dated to the 4th – 1st centuries BC. The finds included bronze fibulae, a silver handle of a vessel, two bronze coins of Maroneia (minted in 398/397 – 348/347 BC) and Abdera (minted in 240 – 220 BC), and a Roman republican denarius (minted in 112/111 BC). The second occupation period dated to the 1st – 4th centuries AD. The finds included fibulae, a gold jewel, coins of Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Septimius Severus, Julia Domna, Gordian III, Claudius Gothicus, Numerian, Constantine the Great, Constantius II, Valens and Theodosius I. The third occupation period dated to the 6th century AD. The finds included bronze coins and a lead seal of Justinian I, coins of the Justinian Dynasty and pottery. The latest occupation period dated to the 11th – 14th centuries. The finds included bronze and silver coins, jewelry and pottery. In 1941 an inscription was discovered on the site, which mentioned the Mediaeval town Vratitsa and a monastery that received a royal donation from the Bulgarian King Michael II Asen (1246 – 1256).