Saint Nicholas of Bari

The secret gift maker who has become known as Santa Claus

A statue of Saint Nicholas
stands outside the Basilica

The feast of Saint Nicholas is held throughout the world every year on this day and is marked particularly in the city of Bari on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Puglia.

Saint Nicholas, who is believed to have died on 6 December, 343, is always remembered in Bari, because some of his remains are held in the Basilica of San Nicola, which has become an important pilgrimage site.

An early Christian bishop of Greek descent, Nicholas was born in Patara in Anatolia, which was then part of the Roman Empire, in about 270.

Because of the many miracles attributed to him, Nicholas is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. He has become the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, toymakers, brewers, and pawnbrokers.

His legendary habit of secretly making gifts also gave rise to the folklore about the character of Santa Claus.

In one of the earliest escapades attributed to Saint Nicholas, he is said to have rescued three young girls who were going to be forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house under the cover of darkness so that their father could afford to pay a dowry for them.

Other stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, chopping down a tree that was said to be possessed by a demon, and saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution.

Nicholas became Bishop of Myra, in present day Turkey, which was then part of the Roman Empire, but he was thrown into prison during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. He was released after the accession of Constantine, who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity.

After his death, Saint Nicholas Church was built in Myra on the orders of the Roman Emperor Theodosius II, over the site of the church where Nicholas had served as bishop. His remains were then moved to a sarcophagus in the church.

Gentile da Fabriano's 1425 painting 
The Dowry of the Three Virgins

In 1087, when the Greek Christian inhabitants of the area were subjected to Moslem rule by Turkish invaders, a group of merchants from Bari removed the major bones from Nicholas’s skeleton without any authorisation. They took them home with them and they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola in the city.

The remaining bone fragments were later removed from Myra by Venetian sailors and taken back to Venice with them.

The earliest mentions of Saint Nicholas by chroniclers indicate that he already had an established following by the sixth century. The historian Procopius mentions the renovation of churches dedicated to him in Constantinople on the orders of the Emperor Justinian I.

Another saint, Nicholas of Sion, appears to have taken his name to honour him. Saint Nicholas of Sion is recorded as having visited his tomb to pay homage to him, in an account written 250 years after the death of the original Saint Nicholas.

In 2017, a portion of the bones of Saint Nicholas were sent on loan to Russia following an agreement made by Moscow with Pope Francis. More than one million people are recorded as having lined up in Moscow for a momentary glimpse of a gilded ark holding one of the saint’s ribs.

Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, became a popular figure in America during the 19th century, because of Dutch immigrants bringing the tradition of Sinterklaas, Saint Nicholas, with them in the 17th century when they arrived in New Amsterdam, which later became New York City.

The Basilica di San Nicola dates back to the 11th
century, when it was consecrated by Pope Urban II

Travel tip:

The remains of Saint Nicholas are said to produce myrrh - a resin historically used to make medicines, perfume and incense - and vials of myrrh can still be obtained from the Basilica di San Nicola where they are kept in Bari. Every year on his feast day on 6 December, a flask is extracted from his tomb by the clergy of the basilica. The liquid is said to seep out of the tomb gradually, but it is not known whether the myrrh emanates from the sarcophagus itself, or from the marble of the tomb, which is kept below sea level. There have also been several natural explanations put forward for the phenomenon. The Basilica di San Nicola was built between 1087 and 1197, during the Italo-Norman domination of Apulia.  Pope Urban II was present at the consecration of the crypt in 1089. The Basilica houses one of the most noteworthy Romanesque sculptural works of southern Italy, a cathedra - bishop's throne - finished in the late 11th century for Elias.

The Basilica of San Nicolò al Lido in
Venice also houses relics of the saint

Travel tip: 

In 1044, Venice, which had obtained fragments of Saint Nicholas’s bones, dedicated the San Nicolò al Lido monastery basilica to him on the north end of the Lido di Venezia. Modern scientific analysis has shown that the fragments in Venice belonged to the same person as the fragments being conserved in Bari, which seems to corroborate the stories of how the bones arrived in the two Italian cities. San Nicolò al Lido refers to both the San Nicolò Church and most importantly to its annexed Monastery of San Nicolò. They have been dated back to the origins of Venice in the early Middle Ages, when they were said to have been founded by the wealthy Zancaruol family.  The church houses a Madonna with Child by Palma il Vecchio and Palma il Giovane's San Giovannino.

Also on this day:

1478: The birth of courtier and diplomat Baldassare Castiglione 

1586: The birth of astronomer Niccolò Zucchi 

1794: The birth of opera singer Luigi Lablache

1921: The birth of film music composer Piero Piccioni

1975: The birth of businessman Andrea Agnelli

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