St Nicholas Church

The birthplace of Father Christmas

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How did he build a reputation for climbing down chimneys?

St. Nicholas was born in the town of Patara in 245 A.D. and died in Myra on 6 December 345. Son of a wealthy family and of good education, instead of spending his vaste inheritance on himself, Nicholas started anonymously giving the money to the needy.

Nicholas had a varied life. For example, several of his less well known experiences were being imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Diocletian for his efforts to spread Christianity in 310 (but was later released when the people of Myra appealed to Constantine the Great). He eventually became the Bishop of Myra (modern-day Demre), where it is said he performed several miracles, including saving sailors from drowning and resurrecting three boys who had been killed by a butcher.

The most famous St. Nicholas story led to the legend of Santa Claus:

A nobleman who lived with his three daughters had fallen on hard times. The daughters had no chance of marriage, as their father could not pay their dowries (payment made by a maiden in order to be received by the husband in marriage) .

One night, St. Nicholas threw a sack of gold through a window of the nobleman's shabby castle, which was enough for one daughter's marriage. The next night, he tossed another sack of gold through the window for the second daughter.

But on the third night, the window was closed. So, St. Nicholas climbed onto the roof and dropped the sack down the chimney. The next morning, the daughters found the gold in the stockings they had hung to dry by the fireplace. Hence the tradition of hanging stockings on Christmas Eve.

Father Christmas, Heilige Nikolaus, Pere Noelas or Noel Baba- as his he is known in this predominently Muslim country, only recently got his image of the red costume with fur trimming, wide belt and cap from the creation of an American professor of divinity, Clement Clark Moore, who wrote a poem in 1822 describing Santa in the following terms:

‘His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry...

He had a broad face, and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly,

He was chubby and plump, - a right jolly old elf

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

No doubt the infamous coca-cola advertising campagne held in the 30's may have also added to his appearance.

Nast also introduced reindeer as Father Christmas’s preferred form of transport, in place of the earlier horse, goat-cart or camel. Trolls, gnomes, elves and many other characters of ancient northern folklore all left a trace on the modern Father Christmas image.

One of the most important of the six Lycian cities, it's origins date back to the 5th century B.C. but due to silting the original (now archaeological site of ancient) Myra is two kilometres away from modern Demre.

After the Saint died he was buried in Demre and a church was built there in his memory.

The Church of St. Nicholas was built in the third century A.D. It was later enlarged and embellished and, with the contributions made by pilgrims who came in ever increasing numbers, became a basilica. It is well preserved and was built with an atrium, an exonarthex, a narthex and three naves with apses.

In the centre there is a dome decorated with frescoes that have now faded. The marble floor is in good condition and the Saint’s tomb, which at one time contained his remains, is in the left nave.

The site is marked by a large, black statue of a bearded, somber-looking man comparable to Santa (dressed in a long robe and hood, sack slung over his shoulder and four children at his feet).

His bones was removed in 1087 by Italian merchants / pirates, probably from Bari, where it was taken, and where it is still preserved (in 1953 the bones were carbon tested, revealing that they did indeed date from the fourth century). Since then Bari has became a crowded pilgrimage centre in his honour.

The grave robbers however neglected to remove all the bones and several were left behind. Several that were later handed in by a villager have been collected and they rest on display in the Antalya Museum.

It was in the years 1951-55 that it was realized St. Nicholas was Santa Claus and this drew a lot of attention to Turkey, with articles in the papers and items on the radio, and in 1955 a Father Christmas stamp was issued. After that date celebrations for Father Christmas as we know him today started to be held regularly in the west.

Every year at Demre on December 6th a Father Christmas symposium is held in memory of St. Nicholas attended by the Church hierarchy, religious and scientific people from all over the world. The first Father Christmas symposium ever held was in Antalya between 5-7 December 1983.

In these gatherings, in keeping with St. Nicholas' love for humanity, a call is made to people of different religions and beliefs for peace, friendship and brotherhood.

Today, St. Nicholas has thousands of churches dedicated to him - over four hundred in Britain and a thousand in France alone.He has become one of the worlds Most loved Saints and is the patron saint of Russia and Greece.