ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN SAMOKOV (Veselin Hadzhiangelov – vhajiangelov@yahoo.com, Elena Vasileva) St. Mary’s Nativity Church (Belyova Church) was explored in 1984, 1994 and 1995. A cemetery, situated to the south and to the east of the church, was discovered. In 2002, the church was re-consecrated and became active. In 2009, the area to the west of the church was explored. At 12.50 m to the west of the narthex a wall was discovered, built of boulders bonded with mud and 75 cm wide. This was probably part of the surrounding wall of the church yard of the second construction period. Christian graves Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were explored at 80 cm in depth belonging to the second phase of the functioning of the church (after the middle of the 12th century). The grave goods in Grave No. 1 included a bronze buckle, an iron ring and an iron knife with a bone handle. The grave goods in Grave No. 2 included two bronze bracelets on the right hand of the deceased. Copper coins of Manuel I Komnenos were found in both graves. No grave goods were found in Grave No. 3. Six graves were explored to the south of the narthex and only one of them was not disturbed. Grave No. 4 belonged to the cemetery that functioned after the church was remodeled in 1857. The rest of the graves contained reburied human bones, which were heaped without order. A wooden coffin was documented in Grave No. 8. Some burials contained grave goods: finger-rings, a small cross, buttons and buckles. A room, 3.80 m by 4.70 m in size, was discovered in trench II/21. Its walls were built of boulders bonded with mortar and were 75 cm wide. Roof-tiles were found. The finds included an iron spur, an arrowhead, an iron fibula and fragments of marble altar fences with decoration in relief. These finds, in addition to the finds discovered in 1994, dated the construction of the church to the 6th century AD. A second similar room was discovered in trenches I/4 and II/24. Both rooms probably belonged to a narthex with an entrance towards the nave.