ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Tsonya Drazheva, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) The St. John Island is situated at 1 nautical mile from Sozopol and has an area of 26 ha. The first archaeological explorations were carried out in 1985. A sanctuary of the 7th – 4th centuries BC, probably devoted to Apollo, was documented. Buildings protected by a fortification wall were discovered. During the end of the 4th – beginning of the 5th century AD, the St. Mary Basilica was built over the ruins of the pagan sanctuary. The basilica was reconstructed during the 9th – 10th century. Part of its frescoes was preserved. The St. John Prodromos Monastery was probably built in the beginning of the 10th century. According to Byzantine historical sources, the monastery was renovated in 1263 and became a favorite residence of the Patriarchs of Constantinople. During certain periods of the Middle Ages, the monastery was under the patronage of the Bulgarian Kings. In 1629 the monastery was destroyed by the Ottomans and its buildings were used as a shelter by the Cossack pirates. The monastery had an area of 0.6 ha. During the present archaeological season, sondages were carried out in St. John Prodromos Church, which was constructed of cut stones bonded with mortar. Sherds of the 4th – 6th centuries AD and of the 13th – 14th centuries were found. A destroyed Christian grave was documented. Fragmentary frescoes and sherds of the 11th – 14th centuries and of the Hellenistic and Roman periods were found in the altar. The entrance from the Presbyterium to the Diaconicon was documented. A building situated to the north of the church was documented. Sherds of the 13th – 16th centuries were found. Sondages at the eastern and the northern surrounding walls of the monastery were carried out. Imbrices and sherds of the 11th and the 13th – 14th centuries were found. The entrance, 1.30 m wide, in the northern surrounding wall was discovered. The door was single-wing and was opened to the outside. Iron bearings of the axis of the door and iron wedges and fittings were found.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Tsonya Drazheva, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) A burial of a man, 20 – 25 years old, was discovered in the exonarthex of St. John Prodromos Church. The deceased lay in a wooden coffin with iron nails. The grave goods included an unguentarium, a spherical gilded bronze button, remains of gold-lace cloth, a pair of spurs and an iron hobnail. Partly preserved burial, most probably of a man, 35 – 45 years old, was discovered to the south of the first grave. The deceased were not monks, but probably they were donors to the monastery after it was restored in the middle of the 13th century. A marble capital decorated with a cross in relief, a fragment of a marble funerary slab with Greek inscription dated to the first half of the 14th century and a small marble column from a window were found to the east of the three apses of the church. Explorations of the basilica began. Sondage No. 1 was carried out between the second bricks-built column of the southern row of columns and the southern nave. An additional column, constructed of well-cut stones, bricks and roof-tiles bonded with mud, adjoined the bricks-built column. Both columns were built on a stylobate. A burial chamber with reburied human bones was discovered. Sherds, fragments of glass vessels and fragmentary frescoes were found under the altar apse of the basilica. Another apse of an earlier church was discovered below and it was partly reused during the construction of the later apse. The rooms situated along the western surrounding wall of the monastery were rediscovered. Room No. 2 measured 11.10 m by 6.08 m and it was not accessible from the inner yard of the monastery, but only from the outside. There was a niche in its southern wall and a platform paved with bricks was situated in front of the niche. There was a stove in the northeastern corner of the room with a chimney incorporated into the eastern wall. Rooms Nos. 11, 12 and 13, each of them 3.10 m by 2.80 m in size, were explored to the west of the northern gate of the monastery. Two bronze stamps used for decoration of leather binding of manuscripts and a bronze clasp of a book were found in Room No. 13. Nails, hinges from doors and windows, clamps and keys were also found.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Tsonya Drazheva, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) The apse of an earlier church was discovered in the Presbytery of the basilica. The floor of the earlier church, which was burned, was documented in the western part of the central nave of the basilica and fragmentary frescoes were found. The foundations of the earlier church were also discovered in the Prothesis and the Diaconicon. Unlike the basilica which had three apses, the earlier church was single-apsed. A rectangular cassette constructed of bricks bonded with mortar, 30 cm by 20 cm in size, was discovered under the floor in the Presbytery of the basilica. The cassette contained a marble reliquary with the shape of a small sarcophagus, 20.5 cm long, 12.5 cm wide and 14.5 cm high, with a lid in the shape of a ridge-roof with four acroteria in its corners. The reliquary dated to the 5th – 6th century AD and contained bone pieces of an adult, probably a man. The primary cassette, which contained the reliquary, was discovered at 20 – 25 cm under the floor of the Presbytery. It measured 30 cm by 24 cm and was constructed of bricks bonded with mortar. A small stone box, 4 cm in width, 6 cm in length and 3.5 cm in height, with a Greek inscription of the 5th – 6th century AD was found nearby. The inscription mentioned Thomas who is praying to God to help him, the name of St. John in genitive case and the date of 24th June. Thomas was probably a Byzantine monk who brought to the monastery pieces from the holy relics of St. John the Baptist placed inside the stone box, while the 24th June was the birthday of the saint. Fragmentary frescoes were found nearby. Two monastery wings of parallel rooms arranged in lines were discovered in the northeastern and the eastern parts of the yard, adjacent to the fence wall. The wings existed from the middle of the 14th to the middle of the 17th century when the monastery was destroyed. A metallurgical workshop was documented in the northwestern monastery building.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Tsonya Drazheva, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) The entrance in the western façade of the basilica was walled. A Christian burial was discovered and the grave was covered with roof-tiles. Sherds of the 13th – 14th centuries were found in the burial pit. A fragment from frescoes was documented on the plinth of the western side of the pilaster, dated to the period when the basilica was reconstructed during the 13th century. A wall was discovered to the east of the Presbytery, which surrounded the basilica and the other buildings of the 4th – 5th centuries AD. The finds discovered in the yard between the basilica and the Mediaeval church included pottery of the 14th – 17th centuries, two coins of the 4th – 5th centuries AD, 40 nummi minted in Constantinople in the period AD 512 – 538, pottery of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. The last room of the eastern wing of the housing part of the monastery was discovered. The building was burned and then reconstructed, probably in the second half of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century. The finds discovered in the Diaconicon of the Mediaeval church of the 13th century included sherds of the 16th – 17th centuries, 13th – 14th centuries, 10th century, 5th – 6th centuries AD, a bronze coin of the end of the 4th – 5th century AD. The Diaconicon was built of cut stones with incorporated timber beams. Its foundation was constructed over the foundations of a building of the 4th – 5th century AD, or earlier. Sherds of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC were found as well. Two floor levels were documented in the Presbytery. The southern conch of the nave was built of ashlars and sherds of the 15th – 16th centuries were found. The foundation of the central part of the conch had destroyed an earlier foundation. Sherds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD were found at that level. Sherds of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC were found under the floor of the nave at 2.20 m in depth.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Tsonya Drazheva, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) The monastery covered an area of c. 0.5 ha. In Sector I, an anonymous Byzantine lead seal showing St. George and St. Theodore, a coin of the 4th – 3rd century BC, sherds of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC, and fragments from tegulae and imbrices were found in the yard between the Mediaeval church and the Early Byzantine basilica. The northern wall and the northern half of the apse of the Prothesis of the basilica, preserved up to 1.20 m in height, were explored. The earliest basilica had three naves and three apses. After the reconstruction, its size was decreased and it had three naves and one apse. Its foundations were constructed over foundations of earlier buildings. The basilica was burned. In Sector II, sherds of the 13th – 14th centuries, small terracotta bowls from the architectural decoration of the church and fragments from roof-tiles were found to the south of the Diaconicon. A foundation of the Hellenistic period was discovered under the floor level of the Diaconicon. Four graves were explored to the northwest of the basilica and to the east of the church. Skeletal remains from three deceased were discovered in one of the graves. An imbrex with incised cross and inscription that reads: ІС ХС NІ КА, was found over the skull of one of the deceased. In Sector III, a wall that surrounded the basilica and the other buildings during the 4th – 5th centuries AD was discovered to the east of the chancel of the basilica.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com) The monastery covered an area of c. 0.6 ha. The foundation of the earlier basilica, which was burned, was discovered at 90 cm from the northern wall of the later basilica. The earlier basilica dated to the 5th century AD and measured 15.50 m by 15 m. It consisted of three aisles, three apses and a narthex. The aisles were separated by columns built of bricks and supporting the roof. The central entrance was from the west and had a portico. The later basilica dated to the 6th century AD and measured 17.20 m by 10 m. It had three aisles and an apse. Later on, Prothesis and Diaconicon were constructed. The columns built of bricks from the structure of the earlier basilica were incorporated into walls which separated the aisles. During a later reconstruction, the northern aisle and the narthex were converted into a crypt, the two entrances of the narthex and the central entrance were walled, the central nave and the Prothesis were converted into a chapel, and the southern aisle was eliminated, most probably during the construction of the monastery kitchen. A Byzantine lead seal of the 12th century was found, belonging to the imperial Monastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople. A section of the surrounding wall of the 5th century AD, 10 m long, was explored. It was situated at 3 m to the east of the presbytery of the earlier basilica. Sherds of the 13th – 14th centuries, terracotta bowls from architectural decoration, fragmentary roof-tiles and bricks were discovered to the south of the Diaconicon of the Mediaeval Church. Foundations of walls were documented, built over a layer with debris and finds from the Hellenistic period. The southern part of a building was explored in the eastern wing of the monastery. The building measured 20 m by 5.50 m and was located at 3 m to the north of the later basilica. It was constructed over the ruins of the earlier basilica. Bases for timber columns that supported the second floor were discovered in the building. The finds included sherds of the 15th – 17th centuries, Austrian and Dutch thalers of the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th centuries, book clasps and a cross-encolpion. Three Christian burials were discovered under the building. One of the graves accommodated three dead whose skulls were covered with imbrices. The foundations of Hellenistic buildings that were documented probably belonged to a temple of Apollo.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com, Milen Nikolov) Roof-tiles, sherds and coins of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC were found to the north of the basilica and to the east of the Mediaeval church. The explorations of the foundation of the Hellenistic period, 1 m wide, continued to the north of the basilica. A stratum 2 m thick was documented, containing sherds of black-gloss pottery and coins of the 4th – 1st centuries BC. At a later construction stage, the northern aisle and the narthex of the basilica were transformed into a crypt, the two entrances of the narthex and the central entrance were walled, and the nave and the Prothesis were transformed into a chapel. Foundations of earlier buildings and two Christian graves were discovered under the monastery cook-house to the south of the basilica. The surrounding wall which protected the basilica and the other buildings of the 4th – 5th centuries AD was documented to the east of the Presbytery. Once the monks’ cells were built in the eastern part of the monastery, their back side already played the role of surrounding wall. The Southern Building was 20 m by 5.50 m in size and was constructed at 3 m to the north of the second basilica and over the debris of the first basilica. Sherds of the 15th – 17th centuries and a bronze vessel were found and three graves were discovered under the building. Two other graves were discovered under the northern gallery of the Katholikon and two graves were discovered under its western gallery. These graves belonged to the earlier cemetery of the monastery.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com, Milen Nikolov) Room No. 1 was explored in the eastern wing of the monastery dated to the 15th – 17th centuries and adjoining the eastern surrounding wall. The room measured 15 m by 5.50 m and was built over the debris of the earliest basilica. Room No. 2, 6 m by 5.50 m in size, and Room No. 3, 7.50 m by 5.50 m in size, were explored to the north of Room No. 1. The finds from the rooms included bricks, roof-tiles, sun-dried bricks, sherds of the 16th – 17th centuries, including from sgraffito pottery, faience of the Iznik Type, iron nails, clamps, plates from doors, keys and a candle snuffer. Sherds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD and two Latin coins of the 14th – 15th centuries were found in the layers beneath the rooms. An Early Christian barrel-vaulted tomb was explored, situated close to the northern foundations of the Prothesis of the earliest basilica. The tomb was 2.37 m by 1.39 m in size, built of bricks and stones bonded with mortar, oriented east – west. The foundations of the tomb were built of vertically arranged tegulae. The floor was paved with four layers of horizontal tegulae. Two parallel bodies were discovered in the tomb, buried at 50 cm from each other and oriented to the west. The dead were men, the first one 50 – 60 years old and 1.70 m high and the second one 45 – 50 years old and 1.75 m high. The tomb was partly destroyed by earthquake. A skeleton of a sheep three years old, oriented to the east was discovered in the tomb, rested some time after the destruction. The calibrated radiocarbon date of the sheep skeleton is end of the 6th – first quarter of the 7th centuries AD. A bronze coin of Justinian I minted in AD 538 – 565 that fell in the tomb after its partial destruction was also found. A bronze chain from icon lamp, glass fragments from windows, cups and icon lamps, fragments from roof-tiles and sherds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD were found in the embankment around the tomb. Layers of debris from buildings of the 5th – 4th centuries BC were documented in the profiles.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com, Milen Nikolov) The Mediaeval St. John Prodromos Monastery had covered an area of c. 0.6 ha. The entryway from the southern harbor of the island towards the monastery was a passage, 3 m wide and 5 m long. Sherds from amphorae of the 5th – 6th centuries AD and from pottery of the 15th – 16th centuries were discovered. Two marble fragments from the Byzantine funerary inscription of Andronikos Palaiologos were discovered to the west of the cookhouse. The inscription was found during the 1980s in the Mediaeval three-conch church. The funerary slab covered a grave and subsequently it was reused as a base of an altar table. The new fragments from the inscription mentioned the family Komnenoi. Two foundations of buildings were discovered to the west of the cookhouse and a grave was explored between them. The top stratum contained sherds of the 15th – 16th centuries, while sherds of the 11th – 12th centuries and the 5th – 6th centuries AD were found beneath. A layer containing burned timber, roof-tiles, part of the collapsed arch that supported the second floor and sherds of the 15th – 17th centuries was discovered in the eastern part of the refectory. A stratum of the 12th – 13th centuries, containing sherds from luxurious pottery of the Iznik Type, was documented in the building in the southern wing of the monastery. Sherds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD and a large marble vessel with two handles were discovered beneath.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com, Milen Nikolov) St. John Prodromos Monastery covered an area of c. 0.6 ha. Sondages were carried out in the abbot’s house, the basilica, the katholikon of the 13th century and the holy spring. Sherds of the 5th – 6th centuries AD and two sherds from Greek black-gloss vessels of the 4th – 2nd centuries BC were discovered beneath the floor in the northwestern corner of the abbot’s house. The marble threshold of the central entrance of the narthex of the katholikon was spolia. There was another spolia (a fragment of a column) incorporated in the western foundation of the narthex. A fragment from a Greek inscription in seven lines was also discovered in the katholikon. It was a decree of the 4th – 3rd century BC, specifying that prominent citizens of Heraclea Pontica became honorary representatives of their city to Apollonia, received the right to buy property there, to trade without imposing additional taxes, duties etc. This is the first document featuring diplomatic relations between Apollonia and Heraclea Pontica. A stone chamber that accommodated a reliquary was discovered in the presbytery of the basilica, related to consecration after the reconstruction during the building of the refectory to the south of the basilica in the 15th – 16th century. During that reconstruction, the southern nave of the basilica was eliminated and it was converted into a funerary church with a chapel. The southern foundation of the basilica was built over a foundation of the 5th – 4th century BC, similarly to its northern wall. A Greek sanctuary, probably of Apollo, existed on the island before the basilica and the monastery were built at the end of the 4th – 5th century AD.

ST. JOHN PRODROMOS MONASTERY (Kazimir Popkonstantinov, Rossina Kostova – korina68bg@yahoo.com, Dimitar Nedev) The explorations of the katholikon of the 13th century and the holy spring (cistern) of the monastery continued. The eastern and the western facades of the holy spring were discovered, built of bricks bonded with mortar. It was constructed together with the basilica in the 5th century AD and was situated at 9.50 m to the west of it. The holy spring functioned until 1629 when the monastery was destroyed. Since the end of the 5th century BC a sanctuary of Apollo probably existed on St. John Island.