Every year around Christmas time, millions of parents across the world take part in the biggest deception concerning Santa Claus. It starts in the early years of a child’s life when the parents promise an abundance of presents from Santa for good behavior.
They tell stories of the North Pole, the fat man who lives there and the elves who make presents of all shapes and sizes. Some parents even take children to Lapland and the misguided infants spend the first years of their life believing in flying reindeer.
In the later years, parents mistakenly confess to their children that Santa Claus was not real and he is just a fun part of Christmas. The sad fact is Santa may not be alive and kicking but he was a real person.
He did also drop presents down chimneys and his biography actually starts in the country of Turkey, not the North Pole. I recently got chance to visit the town where his reputation was made but figured a bit of background history was needed to explain the story.
Six Facts about Santa Claus and Turkey that You Never Knew
1 – Santa Claus was born in the town of Patara on the South West coast of Turkey between the years of 260 and 280AD. Technically, the republic of Turkey was not formed until 1923 so if you want to split hairs, Patara at that time was under Lycian rule.
2 – The true name of Santa Claus was Nicholas and in adult life, he became the bishop of Myra which was a town further up the coast from Patara. It is now called Demre.
3 – When Nicholas’s parents died, they left him a lot of money and made him a wealthy man. He wanted to help people who were poor but he wanted to do it in secret so the agile bishop used to climb on the roofs of people’s houses and drop coins down the chimney. One day, a citizen caught him in the act and his good nature was revealed to the town.
4 – Upon his death, a memorial was erected in the town but it would be a number of years before he gained the holiest of titles and that was as Saint Nicholas. He also became the patron saint of sailors but more specifically of children as he was remembered for giving them nuts, fruit and sweets for good behavior. Bribery was alive and kicking even back then.
5 – December the 6th become associated with the feast of St Nicholas and in later years, a bishop declared December the 25th as the birth of Jesus. Over time, the two celebrations began to fuse together and that was the first connection between Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas and Christmas day traditions.
6 –In the late 1800’s drawings appeared of St Nicholas aka Santa Claus with a beard, pipe and a large belly. The transformation of a humble saint called Nicholas to a fat, jolly man who feasts on mince pies and gets stuck in chimneys, had began. (God knows how the North pole, loyal elves and flying reindeer came about)
Over the years, the true story of Santa Claus has become hidden in the shadows, known only by those who are religious or those who decide to trace back the history of St Nicholas or Christmas day traditions.
Saint Nicholas AKA Santa Claus
Saint Nicholas Church in Demre
On my recent tour of the Lycian way in Turkey, I visited the church of St Nicholas where I got a wonderful insight into the humble beginnings of the man who would later be known as Santa Claus.
Main hall of the church of Saint Nicholas
Located in the town of Demre (far away from the North pole!), the church is open every day and on the 6th of December, special celebrations are held for the day dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It is also the church which holds his original sarcophagus although his bones were stolen in the 10thcentury by Italian sailors and they are now encrypted in a church on the south east coast of Italy.
Hallway of the Church of Saint Nicholas
Special Notes: When you enter the church, it is wise to be respectful even if you are not religious as there are many queuing up to touch the sarcophagus of St Nicholas and also hold pray in the main hall
Praying at the church of Saint Nicholas
Entrance fee : 10Turkish lira. (Around 6USD or 4uk pounds) How cool is that. Much cheaper than a visit to Lapland!
Saint Nicholas Church in Demre
Request to all parents: Ok, I get it! The commercialized story of Santa Claus, reindeer, elves and the North Pole is more convincing when trying to get naughty children to behave. However when they get older,instead of making a confession that you have been lying to them for the first years of their life, tell them about saint Nicholas, his origins and how his good deeds earned him, a place in the heart of children all across the world.
Saint Nicholas statue in Demre
Ok, time to fess up. Do you know this information already or it is news to you?
Thanks for sharing this! I live in Germany where we still celebrate St. Nikolaus on December 6th and in my childhood not Santa Claus but the Christkindl (Christ Child) brought my presents.
Did you know that the red Santa dress we know today was orginally a Coca Cola invention?
Yvonne recently wrote about..The Sky Above Me – The Best View Over Berlin
Hi Yvonne, During my research I came across the coca cola adverts but I did not realise they were responsible for the red outfit. Thanks for letting me know
Natalie recently wrote about..Delicious Vegetarian Food in Turkey
This is an awesome post! Loved learning more about the history of Santa.
cheryl recently wrote about..An Abundance Of Street Art in Amsterdam.
Thanks Cheryl. It was very interesting for me as well to delve into the history.Combined with a visit to the church, it was well worth it.
Natalie recently wrote about..Patara-Four Reasons Why I Will Not Go Back
I’d def visit there as well.
cheryl recently wrote about..The ABCs Of Travel: cherylhoward.com Edition.
WOW. This is an amazing post, I love ones that genuinely teach me something completely new. Visiting the Church of St. Nicholas is on my ‘to see’ list now!
Dayna recently wrote about..5 Free Online Activities for Homesick Americans Abroad
Glad to see it is on your list Danya. Combine it with a visit to the ruins of Myra as well because they are close by.
Natalie recently wrote about..The Lonely Owl – Photo Post
wow loved this post! I knew that Santa was based off of Saint Nicholas but aside from that didn’t know anything else about him. That’s a good point about telling kids that Santa was based off of a real person. I will have to remember that for when my kid(s) get older.
Thanks Krissy, I think it is better to tell them about St Nicholas rather than saying that Santa did not exist. Kinda of a history lesson which can distract attention away from the commercialised aspect of Christmas
Natalie recently wrote about..Photo – Isn’t Our Earth Amazing?
What I didn’t know was how busy the church gets! There wasn’t a sole in there when we went a few years back. Would be nice to tell kids about the real St. Nicholas once they know about the non-existence of the fat man in the red suit.Hope no kids read this.:)
Julia
Turkey’s For Life recently wrote about..Turkish Beer: Efes Gusta Wheat Beer
There was about six coach loads there Julia. Could not move at one stage. I would prefer it to have been more quiet but we can not have everything our own way:)
i knew he was from turkey but i thought he was from antalyia and didnt know he had been a bishop
Hi Dave, The towns that he was born in and also Demre (where he was bishop) belong to the Antalya region so maybe that is where the confusion comes in
This is brilliant, I had no idea that Santa had such an interesting history
Monica recently wrote about..A weekend in Bilbao
I think this story of his history is so much more interesting then the commercialised version Monica. However millions of children all over the world may not agree with me!
I’ve heard that story before.
Great post!
Jenny recently wrote about..How I got bloggin’
Great post! We did a similar one last year, but before researching it I honestly didn’t know a lot of truth about the REAL Santa Claus. Did you see the story recently in which they were about to go a 3D mapping of Nicholas’ face using measurements they’d taken when his burial place was refurbished back in the ’60s? IT’s pretty awesome. We’re very big on Santa in our family, so my daughter (who’s 10) knows all about the history now.
Bret @ Green Global Travel recently wrote about..How I Fell In Love With Travel (aka That Time I Sang For Pope John Paul II In The Vatican)
I am off to google the 3D mapping Bret. I had never heard that they had done it. Really interested to see the results
Natalie recently wrote about..Adventure Rope Climbing In Kemer
fantastic read once again Natalie i did know some of that but not all of it
makes me feel very differently about Christmas
so thanks for that i will be thinking about you christmas day when were eating our lunch
Enjoy Christmas day Di and stick Demre on your list of places to visit.
Natalie recently wrote about..Photo Post – Up Close and Personal
I wrote a research project on Sinterklaas, the Dutch tradition that comes from the same storyline/history. That was 15 years ago, so my memory about the info on that is a bit rusty. Sinterklaas is celebrated in The Netherlands on December 5th, the costume of The Dutch Sinterklaas looks far more like a bisschop than the American Santa. And I agree with Yvonne, that Coca-Cola did a lot to giving its image here in the US through its advertising campaigns in the 1920s. The Dutch Sinterklaas his helpers, come from Wodan (Germanic) beliefs from around the year 400s, and I can see that the elves come from that same visualization. I don’t know if that’s true, but the Wodan helpers look a lot more like the elves, than the black helpers we have in the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition. These traditions have been taken from Europe to the US in the 1700s when many people migrated from Europe to the US.
Marieke Hensel recently wrote about..5 Favorite Online Tools to Manage your Facebook Page
Hi Marieke, thanks for adding the additional info especially the bit about the elves. I could not find any information on how they started to appear in the stories but yours make sense
Natalie recently wrote about..A Guide to Tasty Turkish Street Food
Very interesting! I had no idea, by the way. Thanks for an enjoyable and informative read!
Lisa @chickybus recently wrote about..Manic Mannequins Take On Ecuador: 10 Journeys Through Time and Space
You’re welcome Lisa. Glad you enjoyed
Natalie recently wrote about..Mount Tahtali – To the Sky in a Cable Car
Natalie, as usual a nicely written and informative article. Some of us who live close to Demre know the story, I update an article about St Nicholas every year. Glad to see others are aware of it also.
I recently visited Myra / Andriake which is a must see for those who go to Demre and took a few photos which can be seen from the link to the Myra tour which I posted.
For a humorous aside about the stolen bones of St Nicholas see what Dean Livesley, a kayak instructor from Kayaköy has to say in his article “Bag of Bones:”
http://www.landoflights.net/columnists/dean/bag-of-bones-1759.html
Hobbit recently wrote about..Demre, Turkey-Ancient Myra and Andriake Tour
John -I managed to make it to Myra as well but figured I would leave that for another story. Great article by Dean.
Natalie recently wrote about..Delicious Vegetarian Food in Turkey
Very interesting facts about Santa. I didn’t realize the difference in dates and how they were fused together over time
Nomadic Samuel recently wrote about..Thai One On – My experience learning to make Thai food
It is amazing once you dig back in history how it does come together Sam. The only thing that no one seems to know is about the flying reindeer!
Natalie recently wrote about..A Guide to Tasty Turkish Street Food
Wow, one of the best posts I have read on Christmas! Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoyed learning about the history of St Nick and look forward to sharing the history with my family. I really appreciate the travel and cultural aspect to the story of Santa.
Jeremy Branham recently wrote about..Best of travel 2011: My favorite travel moments of the year
Hi Jeremy, Glad you will share the story with your kids. Too many people these days think Santa Claus was never true but his origins did start with Nicholas so i think we should keep his memory alive instead.
Natalie recently wrote about..Adventure Rope Climbing In Kemer
Lovely and very interesting, I knew Santa Claus was from Turkey but certainly not about his story
Angela recently wrote about..Revolution and friendship – The former US embassy in Tehran
Thank you Angela. I had to dig deeper into the story once I knew I was visiting his church and it is amazing the things that are revealed
Natalie recently wrote about..Photo Post – Up Close and Personal
Santa is truly mysterious!
Excellent post, I had no idea the origins of Santa Claus were born in Turkey.
I love your photos. between them and the descriptions I feel like I could be there
I can’t wait to wow my family with my newfound knowledge!
John Garrett recently wrote about..Monday Comics – Fantasy Comic THE EVER ZONE pt 3
Thanks John. I hoped that with the background and pictures, it would make people feel like they are there. Glad you are sharing this with your family,
Natalie recently wrote about..Patara-Four Reasons Why I Will Not Go Back
Very interesting – I had no idea about the history and Santa’s roots in Turkey. I always assumed he was born in the North Pole
Cam recently wrote about..Photo of the Week: Christmas Lights in Whistler Village
I like the fact that his history is in Turkey Cam, the North Pole is too cold for me!
Natalie recently wrote about..Patara-Four Reasons Why I Will Not Go Back
Great post! I didn’t know this about the Santa tradition! So thanks for teaching me something.
Amanda recently wrote about..The Year in Travel: 12 Photos From 12 Months
Glad you liked it Amanda. It was a pleasure to publish it as it is information not well known in the western world
I needed this refresher. Merry Christmas!!
Abby recently wrote about..Rain, rain, go away?
Merry Christmas Abby. Enjoy
Natalie recently wrote about..Kalkan – Inspiration on My Solo Holiday
Terrific post, Natalie. I had no idea Saint Nick had roots in Turkey.
Would love to come to Turkey sometime. I hear they have some good chocolate!
Doreen Pendgracs recently wrote about..Branson offers much for the outdoor enthusiast
Fantastic post – I never knew these things about ol’ St. Nick!
Andrea recently wrote about..Merry Christmas!
What a great story! I had no idea!
Jade – OurOyster.com recently wrote about..Midweek Snapshot – Tallinn, Estonia 2008
You’re right. I didn’t know ANY of these facts. Thanks for the education!
Kimberly Gauthier, Adventures in Blogging recently wrote about..Monkey Balls and 10 Crazy Things Non Bloggers Say
I like the twist –
Rather than telling your kids that santa doesn’t exist, explain the real story and the lessons contained. Fantastic idea.
John recently wrote about..Puerto Galera Island Hopping and Scuba Diving
Well – it seems like a lie to say he did not exist when he did. We have just happened to bend the truth over the years
Natalie recently wrote about..The Friendly Locals of Ani Village
Great story Nat’s. I love your writing. x
Thank you Eamonn – glad you liked it
Coca-cola has a lot to answer for!
Liv recently wrote about..5 Reasons to rent a property on your next holiday
Exactly. They corrupted many generations with their c****
Natalie recently wrote about..Midyat : Churches, Culture, and a Nine-Year-Old Tour Guide
This is superb Natalie.Thank you for sharing,
Glad you liked it Raky
Natalie recently wrote about..19 Favourite Photos From the Southeast of Turkey