ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg) The church, which was explored, had three naves. A layer of debris was explored in the apse, containing uneven and cut stones, nails, fragmentary roof tiles and sherds of the 11th – 12th centuries. The apse was built over a plinth consisting of one course of uneven stones bonded with mortar. Steps were cut out into the rock against the apse, securing the access towards the church from the east. There was a groove cut out into the rock between the church and the rocky massif from the north and its function was to drain the area. The finds included Mediaeval sherds, including from sgraffito pottery, nails, fragmentary building ceramics and a coin of Manuel I Komnenos.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg, Galina Grozdanova) The inner face of the northern wall of the church, 70 cm wide, was destroyed by clandestine excavations. A bronze coin of Justin I minted in AD 518 – 522 was found, related to the Early Byzantine period of the church. A buttress in the southern wall was discovered in the southeastern part of the church and pottery of the 11th – 12th centuries was found. A bronze coin of Justinian I minted in AD 543 – 544 and a coin of Manuel I Komnenos were found in the eastern part of the southern nave. The southern wall of the church was 1.40 – 1.80 m wide. The northern wall of the narthex was almost entirely destroyed by clandestine excavations and the southern wall, 70 cm wide, was covered with debris. The church had two periods of functioning: Early Byzantine (6th century AD) and Mediaeval (end of the 11th – beginning of the 13th centuries).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg, Galina Grozdanova) The explorations continued in the nave, the southern aisle and the narthex. Debris from stones and bricks were explored in the narthex. At least two construction periods were documented at the eastern wall. The stone with an incised Latin cross was a spolia. The entrance between the narthex and the nave was discovered. A mortar floor of the latest construction period was documented in the southern aisle. Frescoes on the southern, western and northern walls of the southern aisle of at least two construction periods were discovered _in situ_. Fragments from frescoes were found in all areas of the church that were explored. The frescoes were with geometric and floral decoration and with single letters. A fragment from frescoes showing almost a half of a bearded male face with long hair _en face_ was of interest. A wall between the nave and the southern aisle was discovered. Marble architectural details from the interior decoration of the church were found in the layer of debris.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg, Galina Grozdanova) The explorations of the Late Antique and Mediaeval Church No. 1 continued. Debris from the walls and the roof was found in the nave and the narthex. A layer with traces from fire was discovered on the floor, containing charcoal and remains from the collapsed roof: fragmentary roof-tiles and iron nails. The floor in the nave was paved with stone slabs. The walls were preserved up to 1.90 m in height, built of uneven and cut stones, spolia (architectural fragments from the Early Byzantine church) and fragments from building ceramics bonded with mortar. Two reconstructions were documented in the Mediaeval church. An entrance, 1 m wide, was discovered in the middle of the southern wall of the narthex. Grave No. 1 was discovered in the southwestern corner of the nave, beneath the stone pavement. The deceased was a man, 25 – 35 years old, buried in a wooden coffin. A half tetarteron of John II Komnenos minted in Thessalonica and a half tetarteron of Alexios I Komnenos minted in Constantinople were found in the grave. The fragments from the church frescoes included an image of unknown saint, Greek letters and decorative elements, and dated from the second half of the 12th – beginning of the 13th century. The finds included sherds from pots, cups, dishes, dolia, amphorae and pitchers, including from sgraffito pottery, dated to the 11th – beginning of the 13th century, an iron spatula, a small iron knife, bronze coins (one Early Byzantine and Mediaeval ones). The church had two periods of existence: the end of the 5th – first half of the 6th centuries AD and the 11th – beginning of the 13th centuries.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg, Galina Grozdanova) The explorations of Late Antique and Mediaeval Church No. 1 continued. There were pillars dividing both aisles from the nave. Subsequently, the space between the pillars was walled with roughly-cut stones bonded with mortar. Remains from a synthrone were discovered in the apse. The altar and the area in front of it were paved with bricks. The rest of the floor in the nave and the southern aisle was paved with stone slabs. A marble base of a Late Antique altar table was discovered in a layer of debris in the southern aisle; it was reused in the structure of the Mediaeval church. The finds from the excavations included sherds of the 11th – first half of the 13th century, a hook for an icon lamp, a bronze finger-ring and a stone lid of a dolium.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS NEAR THE VILLAGE OF MALKO GRADISHTE (Doichin Grozdanov – doichyn_eg@abv.bg, Galina Grozdanova) The explorations of the church continued. A floor paved with bricks was discovered in the nave of the earlier church of the Early Byzantine period dated by coins of the 6th century AD, the latest one minted by Justin II and Sophia. A layer with traces from fire was documented above the floor, indicating that the Early Byzantine church was burned down. A layer with traces from fire was also documented in the northern aisle. A wall of a building was discovered, which preceded the Early Byzantine church, most probably belonging to a pagan sanctuary. Its foundation was dug into a stratum of the Late Iron Age. A layer with debris, 1 m thick, was discovered beneath the mortar floor plaster of the latest reconstructions in the southern aisle. The layer contained a large number of fragmentary frescoes. A layer with traces from fire was documented and the Early Byzantine floor paved with bricks was discovered beneath. The stylobate of the Mediaeval church was dug into a stratum of the Early Iron Age that was also documented in the nave and the narthex. Two Mediaeval floor levels were documented in the narthex. The Early Byzantine three-nave basilica functioned during the 6th century AD. The Mediaeval three-nave basilica was built over the ruins of the Early Byzantine church and functioned from the first quarter of the 12th to the first decades of the 13th centuries.