ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR DIMITROVGRAD (Zhivko Aladzhov – naim@naim.bg) A mediaeval fortress, probably Βλισνον/Blisimos located on the road from Philippopolis to Hadrianopolis, and a cemetery of the 10th – 12th centuries, situated near the fortress, were documented. The fortress takes an area of 0.1 – 0.15 ha. Until 1959 the ruins of the fortification walls were preserved on the surface of the terrain. Trenches were excavated on the site during some agricultural works during the 1990s and finds were discovered. At the moment, there are many clandestine excavations on the site. Four sondages were carried out in the eastern part of the fortress. A layer of charcoal and ash, 1 m thick, and the foundations of the northeastern circular corner tower were documented in Sondage 1. Iron nails and wedges were found. Thracian pottery of the Late Bronze Age or the beginning of the Early Iron Age (second half of the 2nd – beginning of the 1st millennia BC) was found in Sondage 2. A burned floor plaster of a house and a hearth were discovered. The finds include a millstone, Byzantine anonymous folles of the second half of the 11th century, a decorated brnze cross and a pendant. Sherds of the 12th – 14th centuries were found in Sondage 3. A bronze coin of Emperor Gordian III minted in Hadrianopolis and a gilded bronze appliqué with an incised cross-like monogram, which reads Ioannes, dated to the 7th – 8th century AD, were found during the excavations. According to the historical sources, the Byzantine general Tatikios resided in the fortress during the 11th century.