Turkey wants Santa Claus' bones returned
Breaking news: Santa Claus is dead ... and Turkey wants his bones.
By Jeffrey DavisMon, Dec 28 2009 at 1:33 PM EST
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Make no bones about it, Turkey wants Italy to return St. Nicholas’s ... bones.
The BBC reports, “The third century saint on whom Santa Claus was modeled was buried in the modern-day town of Demre in Turkey. But in the Middle Ages his bones were taken by Italian sailors and re-interred in the port of Bari. The Turkish government said it was considering making a request to Rome for the return of the saint's remains.”
You’re not likely to find Christmas widely celebrated in Muslim Turkey, but the famous St. Nicholas surely is in his town of birth. He was born in the Greek city of Myra and then went on to become the local bishop.
The BBC story says that he built a reputation for performing miracles and secretly giving gold to the needy — on one occasion being forced down a chimney to leave his donation.
After his death, Nicholas was canonized as Saint Nicholas and was buried in his hometown of Myra. But when Arab forces occupied Myra in the 11th century, his bones were excavated and brought back to the Italian port of Bari, where they are interred to this day.
Why does Turkey so badly want the bones of Santa Claus returned? Professor Nevzat Cevik, head of archaeological research in Demre, says Saint Nicholas made it clear during his life that he wanted to be buried in his hometown.
With or without the bones of their favorite saint, Demre isn’t shy about cashing in on their most favorite native … whether the modern figure of Santa Claus be a perversion of him or not.
Comments
Mike Singleton
12/29/2009 12:48 PM
It is absolutely despicable that after Muslim Turks conquered Christian Anatolia after 1071 AD and proceeded to commit GENOCIDE against the Christian population (Greeks, Armenians) culminating in the forced ethnic cleansing of all surviving Christians in 1922 that they would expect sacred Saint relics to be given to them. The Turks only care about tourism money that can be gained and it is an insult to claim that Saint Nick has anything to do with the modern Turkish nation!
Yiannis
12/30/2009 04:45 AM
Mike. You nailed it! As a Greek with origins from Anatolia I am astonished. If St Niholas wished to be bury in Anatolia- and his wish has to be fullfiled- I am wondering what his opinion would have been about his lands be occupied by Turks!
