ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR VRATSA (Nartsis Torbov – natorbov@abv.bg) Single-nave Church No. 2 was thoroughly explored. It measured 17.58 m by 5.75 m, with an apse 4.50 m in diameter and walls 1 – 1.30 m wide, constructed of cut stones bonded with mortar. The floor of the narthex was plastered with mortar. There were at least two construction periods of the church. Initially it was shorter and without a narthex. Later its western wall was dismantled and the church was extended with a narthex. A Christian burial of a child, 6 – 10 years old, was discovered. Judging from the coins, the jewelry and the pottery, the church was built in the beginning of the 6th century AD. During the reign of Justin I the church functioned, as attested by a coin discovered. During the reign of Justinian I, the church probably was damaged by an earthquake. In 2010, a coin of Justinian I minted in AD 527 – 532 in Constantinople was found under the debris. During the excavations, material of the end of the 6th – 5th centuries BC, a bronze coin of Valentinian I, a gold pendant from a jewel, a hook from scales and part of a candlestick were found. Church No. 3 of the 12th – 14th centuries was explored. The wall of its southern apse was 95 cm wide, built of stones bonded with mortar.