History of Saint Nick: real story

Finnish Lapland is the home of the

northern lights and snow the region is

perhaps best known for the old white

bearded fellow Santa Claus

nearly hundreds of thousands of visitors

come to visit Santa at the Arctic Circle

every Christmas Santa receives nearly a

half a million letters from children

around the world

everyone is familiar with Santa but how

many of us know how far back his

routes go rather far from Lapland we

find the Sun bathed the area of southern

turkey at the start of the Christian era

this region belonged to the Roman Empire

and was called south Anatolia in the 4th

century Saint Nicholas lived here he was

a saint is known for his goodwill and

still today the 6th of December is

celebrated in his remembrance in many

parts of Europe for example in Belgium

Germany and eastern France there is very

little historical knowledge about saints

in general or st. Nicholas, was born

at the end of the 3rd century in the

the rich ancient city of Patara in Lucia

which is today in the province of

Antalya in Turkey

as a result of his wealthy parents

Nikolas was able to travel extensively

and he most probably studied theology in

Jerusalem upon return from his long

the journey he was appointed as Bishop of

Myra from the sheer amount of legends

about Saint Nicholas, we can ascertain

that he was one of the most important

Catholic and Orthodox Saints Saint

Nicholas is a highly regarded saint for

children sailors and prisoners alike

Nicholas became the patron saint of

children due to his charitable guardian

acts some of which can be considered

divine miracles

according to the most renowned tale

being the son of the wealthy parents

Nicholas was able to save the daughters

of local merchants from prostitution

by throwing three socks filled with

money into the merchants garden at night

from this night on a tradition began in

the English-speaking world when Santa

Claus delivers gifts on the night of

Christmas Day by coming down the chimney

and stuffing the stockings hanging from

the mantelpiece it is assessed the st.

Nicholas passed away on the 6th of

December in the year 345 or 350 to he

departed as an esteemed bishop and was

laid to rest in the church in Myra an

the earthquake destroyed the original Church

in the year 529 to commemorate Saint

Nicholas, a new church was built in demur

to which his remains were taken to

forever rest in peace Nicholas being

such popular and miraculous folks

ain't had his remains stolen from his

tomb in Turkey by Italian sailors in the

The year 1087 and brought to the city of

Bari, there a basilica was built for the

Nicholas has become an important

Catholic place of pilgrimage

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some of his remains are nevertheless

said to reside in Turkey and are kept in

the Antalya Provincial Museum

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according to legend some relics of Saint

Nicholas has ended up in the small town

of Saint Nicholas deport in Lorraine in

France was a beautiful Basilica named

after he was constructed, Saint Nicholas

has strongly influenced the evolution of

the character of Santa Claus in Europe

and the USA during the 19th century for

For example since the 1860s the famous

drawings of Santa Claus by the German

born American cartoonist Thomas Nast

were strongly inspired by st. Nicholas

the German Santa Claus knocks Hmong

from the folklore of the second part of

the nineteenth century also owes a lot

to the jolly old Saint Nicholas after

the centuries st. Nicholas is still

celebrated around the world and he is a

saint which Santa Claus can proudly call

his forefather