The Real Santa Claus

Endless farms dot the rolling hills rising out of the Demre River Valley. An ancient port here was abandoned thousands of years ago when alluvial silts filled in the harbor. The once great port is now little more than marshland, but the silts have made for great farmland.

After trying some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice near the ruins of the ancient theater, we decided to walk around the town. Tola went to explore the farmer’s market while ND played with some stray dogs and NG and I wandered into the Byzantine-era Church of Saint Nicholas.

It might have been hard to tempt her away from the cute dogs, but the promise of Santa Claus convinced her to come with me and get a bit closer to a historical figure connected to the man in the red suit.

A closed-up souvenir shop across the street seemed to advertise some kitschy Santa junk, but the church itself was completely authentic. Although we were the only ones there, it seems to be a popular place for Russians as evidenced by the number of Russian coins thrown into the empty sarcophagus.

Saint Nicholas was a Greek bishop who lived in this region of the Byzantine Empire in the third century and became revered for his kindness. Not only did he become known as the man who brings Christmastime presents to children, but he also became the patron saint of sailors because he is said to have once prayed away a storm while crossing rough seas.

So at what point did Saint Nick sail to the North Pole and open up his toy factory? And why does he ride a sleigh rather than sail a ship? The answers to these questions are not so simple. Fortunately, NG didn’t ask for too many details.

Christmas is a European tradition predating Christianity and Saint Nicholas. The winter solstice was a popular holiday period across the continent for millennia, brightening lives during the darkest days of winter. From Yule in the north, to Roman Saturnalia, this time of winter in Europe has always been a time to party, eat well and give gifts. Adding the birth of Christ to this holiday did little to change the way it was celebrated.

According to legend, Saint Nicholas once threw bags of gold into a chimney as a gift to a poor family so they could pay a dowry for their daughters to get married. That is about as close to our mythical Santa Claus as he gets.

The Norse God Odin, however, ticks a few more of those boxes. He’s a big man with a beard and fur coat from some place far north that no one can find and he would ride through the night sky to see who was naughty and who was nice, giving good luck or gifts to the good ones and bad luck or death to the bad ones. The merging of kind Saint Nicholas and terrifying, but godly Odin seems like the perfect recipe for the Santa we know and love today.

The basilica in Demre was built during the fifth century over the remains of the church in which Saint Nicholas served. His bones were interred in a sarcophagus and were said to ooze a holy oil with which pilgrims would anoint themselves for its healing properties. These were later brought to Italy, although Turkey disputes this, claiming the Italians have the wrong bones and that the real ones are still at the church. Saint Nicholas became so popular during the middle ages that his imagery can be found all over Europe and his bodily relics also seem to be scattered across the globe.

The Church of Saint Nicholas was an interesting visit for its religious and cultural significance and NG also seemed inexplicably satisfied with seeing it. She insisted on leaving a coin for Saint Nicholas, so I dug into my wallet and found a Serbian dinar left over from our last country. She gently placed it on the ground at the base of the sarcophagus and, as we walked out to go search for Tola and ND, I was left wondering if this visit had changed her vision of Santa in any way.