Everyone knows that Santa Claus will go around at Christmas, crawling through chimneys, drinking glasses of whiskey, leaving presents under the trees, and returning to the North Pole in his flying sleigh.
Or, and at this point, you'll ask the kids to look away, will he just be lying dead under a church named after him in a port in southern Italy?
The town of Barry has been claiming this alternative Santa story for nearly 1,000 years after the bearded old man's remains were allegedly buried under the church that bears his name.
Saint Nicholas, is globally recognized as the man who inspired the legend of Santa Claus. Nicholas, also known as Niklaus or Nicholas, is a true Christian saint, born not in the frosty north, but in Myra, in present-day Turkey.
Saint Nick is believed to have been born around 270 BC and died 67 years later. He was revered throughout the Mediterranean for his generosity, especially in Bari. Perhaps that is why, in 1087, sailors from Bari stole his bones and carried them to their city.
Today, three-quarters of what is said to be the skeleton of Saint Nicholas rest in peace under the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, Bari's largest church, where Christians of all denominations from around the world regularly visit him.
The people of Barrie regularly celebrate their association with Saint Nick but are somewhat unenthusiastic about his role in the commercial extravaganza that is the modern Christmas.
"Locals are proud that their town is famous for three things: delicious clams, pristine beaches, and St. Nicholas," said Antonio Palumbo, a filmmaker from Bari who made a documentary about the saint's relationship with Santa Claus.
"But they don't think the cult of the saint has anything to do with the town's Christmas connection," Palumbo added.
"There is a distinct reluctance among the people of Barrie to accept the origin story of Santa Claus/St. Nick, in part, because the famous image of the white-bearded man in red was invented by American soda marketers," the director claims.
"Santa Claus is perceived as a foreign, consumer figure imported from the States, whose jolly red face and round belly were created and used in the 1930s by Coca-Cola for advertising purposes to get families to buy a car because the kids love her," she declared.
Locals, who keep images and statuettes of Saint Nicholas in their wallets and cars for good luck, see their local hero as very different from Santa Claus.
"We honor our patron Saint Nicholas, we pray to him in difficult times, he watches over children, young women, sailors, and merchants," says Maria Rita Mauro, head of the local tourist office.
"He is our cult and we don't see him as Santa Claus, just as San Nicola," added Mauro.
Saint Nicholas Day celebrations begin in Bari on the night of December 5th. Locals attend a Roman Catholic mass at dawn the next day, then feast on hot chocolate, pancakes, and sticks of fried polenta called sgagliozze. Street concerts are held as the statue of San Nicola parades through the old quarter to a huge Christmas tree. Bars and pastry shops are open non-stop.
Since Nicholas is also the patron saint of unmarried women, young girls who are looking for a husband, traditionally line up in front of the basilica, praying for engagement.
While the people of Bari may be overly patronizing of St. Nicholas, the local church authorities recognize and support the connection between him and Santa Claus.
Father Giovanni Distante, rector of the Basilica of San Nicola, believes that they are the same person.
"Santa Claus is simply an evolution and transformation of Saint Nicholas, who is a universal saint revered throughout Christianity, second only to the Virgin Mary," he told CNN.
"There is a documented and famous episode in which it is said that one night he threw three bags of gold coins out the window to three maidens to provide them with a decent wedding," the priest said.
The girls had no dowry and their father pushed them into prostitution.
From here he began to perceive himself as a defender of women.
In Italy in the 1500s, San Nicola became Santa Claus, bringing gifts to children and descending chimneys, Ciofari said. He also supports this relationship despite the displeasure of Bari locals with consumer associations.
"I support the relationship because through Santa I meet here in Barrie people of all races who come to study the origins of Santa," he said. "Dutch, Belgian, Swiss, and German Santa fans come to Bari, but it's a folklore that doesn't take hold in the city."
According to Ciofari's research, the worldwide metamorphosis of San Nicola into Santa Claus began in 1600, when the saint was brought to the New World by Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, or today's Manhattan.
"Many American poems and books published in the 19th century, including works by Washington Irving, describe and depict Saint Nicholas entering homes and bringing gifts to children on Christmas Eve, then flying away on a sleigh pulled by of reindeer," he said.
In these books, the legendary hero is still called Saint Nicholas, although the color of his robe is constantly changing.
The success of the red uniform offered by Coca-Cola in a campaign in the 1930s "christened" and sanctified the image of Santa Claus as we know him today, Chiofari argued. Most likely because it reminds of the red on the drink's label.
Rosella Mauro, a former teacher who has written several books about Santa Claus, says young women still come to the basilica on the night of December 5 to pray for a husband.
"I feel very proud that our patron saint has inspired Santa. Barry boasts the relics of the real Santa and it's just wonderful to have his skeleton in our backyard," she said.
Mauro has noticed that lately San Nicola has been taking on more and more Santa-like physical features in paintings, tourist figurines and amulets.
"Now he is depicted with a big belly and rosy cheeks, small chocolates are sold in the town, shaped more like Santa Claus than Saint Nicholas," said the former teacher. She says some locals even advertise their homes as "the real Santa's house".
Many places in Bari are named after the saint. There is a bakery "San Nicola", a stadium, a bar, a hotel and an orecchietteria (a shop that sells traditional handmade ear-shaped pasta - orecchiette).
In December, actors walk around town dressed alternately as Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas.
Paco Ricciuti, head of Velo Service, a local tour operator, has started cashing in on Barry's Christmas connection. He organizes guided tours to the basilica and to the local museum, which houses St. Nicholas artifacts.
Other stops on the tour include the San Nicola Stadium, the research center dedicated to the saint, and the murals around the city that have made the saint a pop-art hero. The Bari Vecchia Historic District has various murals of the local hero, including one of him doing yoga.
Ricciuti says he wants to make Barry's Christmas relationship a brand.
"We take visitors on walking tours, bike tours and rickshaws, and the vehicles are freshly painted with images of Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus, and we like to get actors dressed as both to enhance the experience," he says.
Tourists are also treated to the popular "San Nicola" beer, made from local ingredients. A smaller bottle of beer called "Nicolino" features the saint on its label.
Brewer Paola Sorrentino says she created the beer to pay homage to the saint, who is also the patron saint of brewers and foreigners.
"I'm Neapolitan and this city has welcomed me with open arms, just like its patron. I'm also a brewer, so what better way to celebrate and thank San Nicola," she said.
Souvenir T-shirts with the image of San Nicola can also be bought in Bari, but Ricciuti says the city needs to do more to sponsor the Christmas connection around the world.
"I'm happy that the real Santa Claus is buried in my hometown, which is where the myth of the good old man originated," he said. "People around the world envy this and we don't realize how blessed we are"./BGNES
