CHERVEN (Stoyan Iordanov – stojan_jo@abv.bg) Church No. 13 with two construction periods was discovered in the Inner Town: during the earlier period it was built of ashlars bonded with mortar and during the second period of roughly-cut and reused stones bonded with mud. The structure from the later period was built over the earlier structure. The church was destroyed most probably by an earthquake in the first half of the 13th century, then it was reconstructed and was finally destroyed after the Ottoman conquest of Cherven in 1388. The church had a single nave and an apse and was without a narthex. It was 4.63 – 4.75 m long and 3.03 m wide with walls 53 – 65 cm wide. The roof was covered with tiles. The floor during the earlier period was paved with slabs. The apse was 1.72 m wide and 1.45 m deep. The foundation of an altar table built of ashlars bonded with mortar was discovered inside the apse and a fragmentary stone slab of the table was found. The lower part of a window, 40 cm wide, was preserved in the apse. During the earlier period, the church had niches on its façades. A niche on the western wall to the south of the entrance was 74 cm wide and 20 cm deep. There were three graffiti in Old Bulgarian inscribed in the niche and the best preserved says that the church was dedicated to St. Mary. The entrance of the church, 94 cm wide, was on its western side. An iron handle from the door was found. A layer with traces from fire was documented, related to the final destruction of the church and containing iron nails, copper coins of the Bulgarian King Ivan Alexander and Andronikos II Palaiologos. Sherds of the 11th – 14th centuries and copper coins of the first half of the 13th century were found under the floor of the church and a child burial was discovered. A Christian cemetery was explored around the church and the burials of two men, four women and 13 children were discovered. Two of the deceased children have coins put in their mouths. The grave goods included buttons, copper earrings, coins of the Bulgarian Kings Ivan Alexander and Ivan Shishman, Bulgarian and Byzantine coins of the end of the 12th – beginning of the 13th centuries.