Karaağaç, which is in Sütlüce on the Golden Horn near Kağıthane, was a favorite garden of the sultans. Eremya Çelebi, who informs us that it was made in 1672 for Mehmed IV, says that it was a pleasant place during the summer, as it caught the northern breezes. This garden was formerly known as Defterdarzade İbrahim Paşa Bahçesi. It was located toward the top of Karaağaç, on the bank of the Kağıthane River in a place full of trees and near the with the spring of Karaağaç. İmrahor Köşkü was in the same place. When the sultan's horses were put out in the spring to graze for forty days in the meadows along the riverbank, the servants of the Master of the Horse lived in this köşk.

According to Evliya Çelebi there was an imperial palace and garden near the mouth of the Kağıthane valley where the sultan occasionally stayed: Murad IV was very fond of this delightful garden, its air and its water, and always enjoyed watching the thousands of caïques carrying people to the entertainments at Kağıthane. It was still an imperial garden and the sultan's private property during the reign of of Mehmed IV. There was a master gardener and subordinate gardeners there. Next to it was Ebussud Bahçesi, which was full of pistachio trees and rosebushes (Seyahatnâmesi, 1:123a).

Between 1704 and 1708 repairs were carried out to the palace and garden there. In 1708, orders were given for lime, oak, ash, elm, beech, and plane tree saplings to be sent there from İzmit.

The text for this entry is adapted from Nurhan Atasoy, Garden for the Sultan, 285.

Source: Travel Account, 17th century

-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman

Resources:

Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 304 Yazmasının transkripsiyonu (Open in Zotero)

İstanbul tarihi: XVII. asırda İstanbul (Open in Zotero)

A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture (Open in Zotero)

Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Karaağaç Garden.” Middle East Gardens Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, December 1, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue/C98. Archived at: https://perma.cc/5UDZ-R9BM.