ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN MELNIK (Tsvetana Komitova – komitova@abv.bg, Violeta Nesheva) The site is located at the northern foot of the hill with the fortress of Despot Alexii Slav. In 2005, the ground floors of houses Nos. 1 and 2 and the street between them were discovered. A wine cellar and production utilities, related to iron metallurgy and blacksmith activities, were situated on the ground floor of house No. 1. The houses had the following construction periods: 12th – beginning of the 13th centuries, 14th century, end of the 16th – beginning of 17th centuries and 19th century. In 2007, the first floor in house No. 1 was discovered. A wall of a ground floor was explored in house No. 3. It flanked a cobble street, 3 m wide, which lead to a single nave and single apse church situated there. The apse of the church is preserved up to its vault. Fragments of frescoes were found. The frescoes are similar to those of the first painting period in the Catholicon of the Monastery of St. Mary Speleotissa dated to the beginning of the 13th century. The walls of the church are connected with a room, probably part of house No. 3, and another room of house No. 1 situated at the level of the ground floor. The explorations of the two floors of house No. 2 continued. Houses Nos. 1,2 and 3 and the church belonged to a single architectural ensemble, which existed from the 12th – 13th centuries to the beginning of the 20th century when it was destroyed during the major earthquake in 1904.