The legend of Santa Claus

Americans have been celebrating Christmas since colonial days, almost always with Santa Claus, in one form or another. We’re accustomed to seeing the jolly old elf in his flying sled, decked out in red with a flowing white beard, squeezing down chimneys and leaving gifts under our trees. But in a certain town in Italy, they take the legend of Santa Claus a little more seriously.

            Down in the heel of Italy’s boot you can find the Basilica di San Nicola in the town of Bari. Nearly a thousand years ago, the remains of the bearded gift-giver known as St. Nicholas were interred beneath the church that bears his name. Well, most of the remains, anyway.

            Nicholas was a real-life Christian bishop who was born in what is today known as Turkey around 270 AD. During his 67-year-long life, Nicholas became known as the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to his intercession. He’s the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people and students in various cities and countries in Europe. His habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the modern version of Santa Claus.

            Nothing was written about Nicholas until centuries after his death, but some of the legends are remarkable. He rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house for three straight nights, so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. He is said to have calmed a storm at sea, rescued three innocent soldiers from execution, and chopped down a tree possessed by a demon. For a time he was imprisoned by the Roman emperor Diocletian.

            Nicholas was buried in his hometown of Myra, or perhaps on an offshore island. Some 800 years later, with the Byzantine Empire in turmoil, Italian sailors seized about 75% of the saint’s remains from his burial church and took them to Bari. Two years later, Pope Urban II inaugurated a new church to house the remains and personally placed the relics in a tomb beneath the altar, where they remain to this day.

            Present-day residents of Bari welcome the Christian pilgrims who come to the church, but they perceive their local hero as very distinct from Santa Claus. Celebrations for St. Nicholas Day begin on December 5, with street concerts, parades and traditional food. Young girls looking for a husband line up in the basilica, praying for betrothal.

            In Italy, St. Nicholas morphed into Father Christmas in the 16^th century, bringing presents to children and sliding down chimneys. In the next century, Dutch settlers brought the legend to New Amsterdam, their colony on the American island of Manhattan. Santa’s red uniform wasn’t commonly seen until the 1930s, when it was popularized by Coca-Cola in an advertising campaign.

            Bari has started to cash in on tourism linked to St. Nicholas, with guided tours to the basilica and the local museum that houses artifacts, along with street tours that feature murals, including one in which the saint is doing yoga, believe it or not. The tours are on foot but also on bicycle and rickshaw. There’s even a popular local beer named San Nicola.

            Interested in traveling to Italy? Bari is only one of countless historical sites you can see there, and we can send you wherever you want to go, from the Alps down to the tip of the boot and Sicily. Chiamaci! (That’s Italian for “Give us a call!”)