Saint Nicholas

There are few documented facts about the life of the historical Nicholas. Myra in Lycia, now Demre, is a small town about 100 km southwest of Antalya in present-day Turkey. In the 4th century the place was a bishop's see, and the inhabitants spoke Greek. Accounts of Nicholas' life come, for example, from Andrew of Crete (c. 700) and from a monk John from the Studite monastery in Constantinople, which was founded in the 5th century. According to consistent traditions, Nicholas was born between 270 and 286 in Patara, a city in Lycia. According to tradition, he was ordained a priest at the age of 19 by his uncle Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, and then became abbot of the monastery of Sion near Myra. During the persecution of Christians in 310, he was imprisoned and tortured. He distributed his inherited wealth among the needy. This is also reported by the better attested bishops of the 4th century Ambrose of Milan and Basil of Caesarea, where it is considered historical fact. There are various legends surrounding Nicholas.

St. Andrew of Crete and St. John of the Studite Monastery reported that Nicholas had participated in the Council of Nicaea and had slapped his adversary Arius. Because of this he was first arrested, but towards the end of the council he was rehabilitated. Nicholas is not included in the list of signatories of Nicaea, which, however, is incomplete. On the other hand, Bishop Theognis of Nicaea, whom, according to Andrew, Nicholas convinced of the Catholic view at the Council, is one of the historically documented signatories.

After the evacuation of the city of Myra and before its conquest by Seljuk troops in 1087, southern Italian merchants stole the relics from the saint's tomb in the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre and transferred them to their native Bari. The relics are housed in the specially built Basilica of San Nicola. The city celebrates a festival in honour of the saint every year from 7 to 9 May, the presumed day of the relics' arrival in Bari. The statue of St. Nicholas is carried in procession from the basilica to the port, accompanied by over 400 people in period costumes. It is then taken around the bay on a boat. The Turkish St. Nicholas Foundation, however, demands the relics of the saint back.