As the name suggests, Yildiz Park was once the esteemed garden of Yildiz Palace, signifying its significance as the "star" of the city during the Ottoman Empire. Originally a forest in the Byzantine era, it later became a favored hunting ground for the sultans, evolving into the beautifully landscaped park it is today.
In the Byzantine era, the land around Yildiz was covered in a forest. The sultans turned it into their hunting grounds, beginning with the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. It persisted as a grove behind the seashore palaces for several centuries. In the years after the palace's construction in the 19th century, the neighborhood started to prosper. It got its name from the first pavilion, Yildiz Kasr, which Selim III ordered in the first half of the 19th century.
The imperial garden of Yildiz Palace previously included Yildiz Park. During Sultan Abdulhamid's reign, this walled park, which extends from the palace, was solely accessible to palace residents. High walls encircled the 25 acres of the palace's exterior garden. A small artificial lake, pavilions, summer houses, and a porcelain workshop were established in this section.