Adventure 49/101, Mission 16 - Mission Santa Clara

Capture California, the Game-2012

Adventure: 101 - 16 : Mission Santa Clara de Asis, 8th mission

Team: Thing One, Thing Two

Date:  August 23, 2012

Location: Santa Clara

Description:

Considering that Mission Santa Clara is only 9 miles from where I grew up and my parents still live, you would think this would be the first mission we would have visited. But no, we had to wait until we are three-quarters of the way through the missions before we visited it for Capture California. But even so, there is a connection with our team to this mission. The Cat in the Hat, many years ago when she was in fourth grade, did Mission Santa Clara as her mission. So with this in mind, we are off to Santa Clara.

From the start, Mission Santa Clara gives a sense of positiveness and inclusiveness. The entrance station person was very friendly, giving us a two hour parking pass. The mission gives you pretty good access, even without a fee like most of the other missions do.

The front of the mission is striking, with the original 1777 cross preserved in front. The rose garden on the side has roses which were in full bloom, giving off a pleasant fragrance. On the other side is a tralis with wisteria, which is over a hundred years old. Yes the whole place reeks with age. It even has the oldest building in the west of any college/university campus. That would be the Adobe Building, built in 1822. But where the mission shines is the interior. It has the most magnificent inside of any of the missions we visited. The high ceiling with the chandeliers, the stations of the cross, while a bit high they really attract your attention, both with your eyes and with your mind. Which then turns your attention to the main purpose, to the front of the sanctuary, where you turn your thoughts upward. Isn't that the whole purpose of the sanctuary?

From Wikipedia site:

A subsequent site of the Mission dating from 1784 to 1819 is located several hundred yards west of the De La Cruz overpass of the Caltrain track; moreover, several Native American burial sites have been discovered near this subsequent site.

Initially, there was tension between the people of the Mission and those in the nearby Pueblo de San Jose over disputed ownership rights of land and water. The tension was relieved when a road, the Alameda, was built by two hundred Indians to link the communities together. On Sundays, people from San Jose would come to the Mission for services, until the building of St. Joseph's Church in 1803

From California Missions Resource Center site:

Named For: Saint Claire of Assisi, a 13th century Italian nun, cofoundress with San Francis of the Order of Poor Clares or Clares.

Mission Church: The current church is a tasteful modern interpretation of the mission's fifth church constructed in 1825. The 1825 church was completely destroyed in a devastating fire.

Mission Art: A tall cross, erected in 1777 and now in protective casing, stands across from the church entrance.

Significant Event(s): In 1851, authority for Santa Clara was transferred to the Jesuits and the old mission became the nucleus of Santa Clara University

Interesting Facts: 

A four-mile Alemeda (or four-mile long road lined with willow trees) connected the mission and the nearby pueblo of San Jose.
The bells of Santa Clara have rung faithfully each evening since 1798 by request of King Carlos IV.
Santa Clara was the first California mission to honor a female saint.
Site of the first college, and the oldest university in California, founded in 1851.

From California State Parks site:

Located on the Guadeloupe River, the log chapel was founded in 1777 by Father Serra in honor of St. Clare only three months before his death. In 1851 the work began which ultimately produced Santa Clara University as we know it today. Located about 40 miles south of San Francisco, the main garden is devoted to tree roses, a mission tradition, and the string of willows planted along the miles between the mission and the pueblo of San Jose is today a well-traveled San Jose street known as The Alameda. Some initial mission walls exist and the bell tower holds the original bells sent from Spain. The University is rich in relics of the mission with a library of notable archival material.
 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, 95953, (408) 554-4023