KREMNA
Pisidia, Turkey.
Near the village of
Çamlik in the district of Bucak in the province of Burdur.
The village is situated on the Tauros 60 km SE of Burdur
and 15 km from Bucak. According to Strabo (
12.569),
Kremna and the other cities of Pisidia were first captured
by Amyntas, the commander of the Galatian auxiliary
army of Brutus and Cassius, who became king of Galatia
and Pisidia on going over to the side of Antonius. Octavian allowed him to remain king until his death in 25
B.C., after which Kremna (
Mon.Anc. 28;
Strab. 12.569）
was made into a Roman colony (Colonia Iulia Augusta
[Felix] Cremnena,
CIL III, 6873). Coins of the Imperial
period were first minted at Kremna during the reign
of Hadrian. The donatio given by the emperor Aurelian
(270-75) was followed by a period of brilliant prosperity
in Kremna, but not long after, in A.D. 276, during the
reign of the emperor Probus, the acropolis was occupied
by the Isaurian bandit leader Lydios, who used it as a
fortress against the Romans, and was thus able to hold
out for a considerable time (Zosimos 1.67). Kremna was
included in the Byzantine province of Pamphylia, and it
is clear that settlement continued there uninterrupted,
though on a smaller scale. In 787 Kremna sent a representative to the Second Council of Nicaea. Meanwhile
the inhabitants had probably left the steep slopes and
settled in what is now the village of Çamlik, which had
been a village or suburb of the ancient city, bringing the
name of their city with them. Thus Girme, the old name
of the Turkish village, is derived from Kremna. According to the last information regarding the city (
Not. Dig.
10) Kremna was the administrative center of the province.
In 1874 the site was definitely identified as Kremna by
the discovery of a dedicatory inscription containing the
name. Excavations were begun in 1970.
Kremna is situated on a hill dominating the valley of
the Kastros (Aksu) and extending from E to W across
a plateau 1000 m above sea level. The hill is 250 m above
the level of the plateau, with sheer slopes on the N, E,
and S, so that the city can be approached only from the
W. Although on this side it is connected with the plateau
by gentle slopes the hill is isolated by a deep ravine
formed by flood waters. Thus the topographical situation of the acropolis makes it almost impregnable. The
acropolis itself is not level for there are a number of
small hills on the N, E, and SE. Most of the public
buildings are concentrated within two small valleys, the
forum and the basilica situated at the junction of the
two valleys. To the N of the forum are cisterns, and to
the S the library (?). The theater is situated on the slopes
of the E hill, with the stoa and the gymnasium to the E
of this. To the NE of the gymnasium lies the macellum,
to the W of the forum a colonnaded street, and to the
W of the basilica a monumental propylon. There are
temples on the high hills on the acropolis, while houses
are scattered around the center of the city and other
suitable parts of the site. Churches of the Christian period
are to be found both inside and outside the city. Tombs
are outside the city, especially on the W and S slopes of
the acropolis. The finest and best-preserved rock tomb is
to be found on the S. The W city gate is in ruins, and
only sections of the W defense walls and towers are still
standing. The second gate of the city is a gate with courtyard in a better state of preservation. Walking from here
towards the E, one reaches first arcades and later a second theater. Kremna was built on a grid plan. The uneven surface of the acropolis is unsuitable for the application of such a plan, but instead of leveling the ground
the main buildings were placed in the valleys, while the
perpendicularly intersecting streets were led straight over
the hills.
Very few of the buildings of the ancient city are still
standing, most of them now consisting of mere heaps of
stone and architectural fragments. The coins and sculpture found in Kremna are preserved in the Burdur
Museum.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F.V.J. Arundell,
Discoveries in Asia
Minor (1834) II 74ff; R. N. Waddington,
RN (1853)
371; G. Hirschfeld, “Bericht über eine Reise in Südwestlichen Kleinasien,”
Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde (1878) 279; J.R.S. Sterrett, “The Wolfe Expedition to Asia Minor,”
Papers of the American School of
Classical Studies at Athens 3 (1884-85) 319-26; K.
Lanckoronski, et al.,
Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens
(1892 repr. ca. 1965) II 161ff
MP; W. Rilge,
RE XI, 1708;
H. Rott,
Kleinasiatische Denkmäler (1908) 18ff; M. H.
Ballance, “The Forum and Basilica at Cremna,”
BSR
(NS 13) (1958) 167ff
PI; J. Inan, 1970 Cremna Excavation Report,
Turkish Archaeological Journal 19.2, in
press.
J. INAN
