EXPLORATIONS ON TRAPEZITSA HILL (Mirko Robov – mrobov@abv.bg) A pavement of slabs was documented. It began from the western side gallery of Church No. 3 and continued to the southwest. The explorations continued in the southwestern part of the complex. The occupation layers were up to 1.50 m thick.. The lowest layer, up to 30 cm thick, contained Thracian sherds of the Early Iron Age (11th – 6th centuries BC) and animal bones. Forges that preceded the construction of the church were documented and iron mill-bars and slag were found. The southwestern gate of the complex was discovered, built over remains from earlier structures. The corridor of the gate, 5 m long and 3.50 m wide, was paved with stone slabs and had a barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by an arch built of bricks. The numerous fragments from frescoes and the terracotta bowls from the façade testified that the gate was decorated. A place for stirring mortar was discovered close to the south of the gate, used for its construction. A building over 15 m long, with walls that were 1.40 m thick, was documented to the south of the gate. A pavement of stone slabs led from Chruch No. 3 to the building and another pavement of stone slabs located to the east of the gate also led to the building. A layer with debris, c. 70 cm thick, was documented. Judging from 23 coins found, the layer dated after the 1270s and was related to the reconstructions of the gate. The lower layer contained coins of the 1230s – 1240s and a fire that destroyed the gate in that period was documented. Five Christian burials of the end of the 14th century were discovered and graves Nos. 6, 7, 8 and 9 belonged to a family: young man and woman, an adolescent and a small child. The finds from the excavations included 156 coins: 68 minted in the period from the foundation of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom in 1185 to the 1270s, three from the first half of the 14th century and the rest from the second half of the 14th century, two processional crosses, iron styli, lead seals, a bronze clasp of a book and a spur.