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Current Rose Gardens and Cemetery

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View of Mission Santa Clara rose garden and cemetery 

no plaque commemorating California natives

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Presently, the Mission Rose Gardens and Cemetery are beautiful, serene places on the Santa Clara University campus. Many students enjoy the Rose Gardens as a peaceful garden area for relaxation, studying, and recreational purposes. While the Rose Gardens get a lot of use, the Mission Cemetery is closed to the public as a sign of respect for those buried there and their families. This burial site includes natives, settlers, and passers through from the mission period, and it is not open for burials anymore. However, it’s beauty adds to the overall representation of the current mission site because the mission was not always this nice. The gardens and cemetery today are constructions of nostalgia, downplaying what this land was used for and ignoring the dark past of these landmarks on campus today. The current Mission Church was actually rebuilt because the original one burned down, and it is one of the most beautiful and picturesque locations on campus. Areas directly around the church include the cemetery on one side and the rose gardens which surround the back side of the Church. Additionally, the Adobe Lodge and Adobe Wall in the rose gardens are original structures from the mission period. They are the oldest structures on campus and still remain, yet are glorified by people looking beyond the past history and just at the current beauty.