In the video: The St. Nicholas Church in Myra, which was erected on the site of the church where Nicholas had served as bishop, less than two hundred years after his death, per the commands of Theodosius II. In the church his bones were transferred to a sarcophagus, later on during the conquest of the region by the Muslim Seljuk Turks in 1087, a group of merchants from Bari, Italy, took the major skeleton parts of Saint Nicholas from his tomb in the church and returned to their hometown, where they are now preserved in the Basilica di San Nicola. L.NESHKOV/BGNES
An early Christian bishop of Greek origin from the seaport city of Myra in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey) under the Roman Empire, Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343) is also known as Nicholas of Bari. He goes by the name Nicholas the Wonderworker as well, due to the numerous miracles that people say he performed. Across Europe, Saint Nicholas is venerated as a protector of sailors, merchants, archers, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, singles, and scholars. As was typical of early Christian saints, his renown grew among the devout, and Sinterklaas, modeled after him, became Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") due to his fabled practice of hidden gift-giving.
The real Saint Nicholas is mostly unknown. The first biographies of him, penned centuries after his death, likely include fantastical embellishments. His rumored parents were rich Christians, and he was born into their household in the Asia Minor Greek port city of Patara.
According to one of the first and most well-known accounts of his life, he saved three daughters from prostitution by allowing their father to pay a dowry for each of them by dumping a bag of gold money through their house window every night for three nights. In earlier accounts, he is said to have calmed a storm at sea, rescued three innocent soldiers from an unfair death penalty, and chopped down a demon-possessed tree. It is reported that he went on a pilgrimage to Palestine and Egypt when he was young. He was consecrated Bishop of Myra not long after his return. Afterward, he was imprisoned during Diocletian's persecution but was released upon Constantine's accession.
Despite his omission from all accounts written by council members, he is included in an early list of those present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. He was supposedly imprisoned and defrocked during the council for slapping the heretic Arius, according to recent, unverified stories. He also revived three children who had been killed and preserved in brine by a butcher who intended to sell them as pork during a famine, according to another well-known narrative about his life.
His bones were transferred to a sarcophagus at the St. Nicholas Church in Myra, which was erected on the site of the church where Nicholas had served as bishop, less than two hundred years after his death, per the commands of Theodosius II.
During the conquest of the region by the Muslim Seljuk Turks in 1087, a group of merchants from Bari, Italy, took the major skeleton parts of Saint Nicholas from his tomb in the church and returned to their hometown, where they are now preserved in the Basilica di San Nicola. This happened shortly after the church was proclaimed to be in schism by the Catholic church. Venetian sailors later retrieved the remaining bone fragments from the coffin and brought them to Venice during the First Crusade. /BGNES
