<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Website </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> www.scu.edu/mission/ </Td> </Tr> <P> Mission Santa Clara de Asís is a Spanish mission founded by the Franciscan order in the present - day city of Santa Clara, California . The mission, the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777 and named for Saint Clare of Assisi, the foundress of the order of the Poor Clares . It is the namesake of both the city and county of Santa Clara, as well as Santa Clara University, which was built around the mission . This was the first California mission to be named in honor of a woman and the only one now located on a university campus . </P> <P> Although ruined and rebuilt six times, the settlement was never abandoned, and today it functions as both a parish church of the Diocese of San Jose and a university chapel for Santa Clara University . </P>

When was the mission santa clara de asis built