Kremna
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.
BIBLIOGRAPHYF.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. Sterret, “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 161ffMP; W. Rilge, RE XI, 1708; H. Rott, Kleinasiatische Denkmäler (1908) 18ff; M. H. Ballance, “The Forum and Basilica at Cremna,”BSR (NS 13) (1958) 167ffPI; J. Inan, 1970 Cremna Excavation Report, Turkish Archaeological Journal 19.2, in press.
J. INAN