ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR BANSKO (Katya Melamed – katjamelamed@yahoo.com) The explorations were carried out in the southern sector of the cemetery. Walls from a farm, which existed from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th centuries, were documented. A single-naved church with one apse and probably with a narthex, dated to the 4th – 6th centuries AD, was discovered. It was preserved at 8.80 m in length and was 5.70 m wide with walls that were 60 – 75 cm wide, while its apse was 2.30 m in depth. Fragmentary tegulae and sherds were found. Walls from buildings were documented and fragmentary tegulae and imbrices, sherds, slag and charcoal were found. The church and the buildings were burned at the end of the 6th century AD during the invasion of the Slavs. Four Christian graves were explored in the cemetery. Thus the total number of the burials reached 14. Two ritual structures related to funerary practices and memorial services were discovered. They were surrounded with slabs and were situated at 30 cm from each other and measured 1.70 m by 3.10 m and 1.40 m by 2.50 m and were 30 cm deep. A hearth was discovered in one of the structures and sherds and bones from goats were found. The sherds discovered in the cemetery dated to the 4th – 6th centuries AD.