This was one of the most outstanding examples of Ottoman gardens prior to the Tulip Era, as the reign of Sultan Ahmed III (1703-1730) came to be known. The famous 17th century Turkish writer and traveller Evliya Celebi gives this description of Tersane Garden: 'Tersane Garden beside the sea at Haskoy belongs to the sultans. Prior to Ottoman times it was a royal vineyard. After the conquest Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror had his tent erected here, and commanded the construction of a royal lodge and bath, seating places, pool and fountain. Twelve thousand cypress trees were planted in a grid pattern, shading the gardens, whose peaches and apricots are most excellent. A chief gardener and 300 assistants serve here. There are boathouses for the use of the sultan.

The trade guilds rented boats and barges, attached them one to the other and constructed pavilions upon them. This train of boats set out from Galata, and inside the pavilions the guilds put on displays for the spectators as they sailed along, passing by Tersane Palace on their way. The gardens and park of Tersane Palace rose in terraces up the hillside behind, and covered a huge area. From the Golden Horn all the buildings of the palace could be seen. The two-storey harem apartments had a glass conservatory that ran right across the ground storey. This large building with a tiled roof contained a bath, an arbour and a pool with an ornamental fountain. On the waterfront stood the lead-roofed Namazgah Kosk and the palace mosque. Next to the mosque were baths, and beyond the apartments of the chief black eunuch, the chief treasurer and other officers of the royal household, and the quarters of the pages and servants.