KASTRITSI FORTRESS NEAR VARNA (Valentin Pletnyov, Petko Georgiev, Hristo Kuzov – h.kouzov@abv.bg, Igor Lazarenko, Asya Stefanova) The northern fortification wall is 200 m in length and 1.80 – 2 m in width. It has two faces and a bonding medium of broken stones and mortar. The wall has five circular, one rectangular and one triangle towers. A wall surrounds the inner space close to the eastern end of the fortification wall. The inner fortification is protected by the rectangular and the triangle towers, and there is a square tower on its western wall. The gate of the fortress is located in the middle of the wall; it is 3.40 m in width and 3.20 m in length. Ancient and mediaeval shreds were discovered to the north of the fortress and most likely, they originate from a settlement. The western fortification wall has two faces and a bonding medium of broken stones and mortar; its width is 1.50 – 2 m. There is an inner wall in the northwestern corner of the fortress, which closes a rectangular area of c. 50 sq. m, most likely a donjon. Fragments of mediaeval pottery and of ancient and mediaeval amphorae, two fragments of frescoes and a terracotta rosette from the façade decoration of a church were found. A floor level with a kiln, a dolium and coins of Theodosius I, Constantine the Great and Licinius were discovered to the north of the fortress. Ancient and mediaeval pottery, a coin of the 2nd century AD, a bone pin, a fibula and a needle for fishing-nets were found at the inner fortification. Fragments of mediaeval sgraffito and kitchen pottery and 30 coins were discovered at the western fortification wall. The earliest coin is minted in Marcianopolis by Severus Alexander and Iulia Moesa. The late antique coins of the 4th – 7th centuries are predominant, but there are mediaeval Byzantine coins minted by Michael VIII and Andronikos III, two Venetian soldini minted by doge Francesco Dandolo and one coin minted by the Bulgarian king Todor Svetoslav (1300 – 1321).