Crazy Things That Apparently Originated in Turkey: Number Three!

NUMBER THREE: Santa Clause. Oh yeah, did I mention that Santa's Turkish? Well, actually, he was Byzantine. But if someone ever lived in Turkey or moved to Turkey, or really liked Turkey (slight exaggeration), they're basically Turkish. This one is actually true as well, though I'll admit that Santa Clause has some crazy complicated roots. But let's stick with the Christian ones. Saint Nicholas of Myra is considered the primary inspiration for the modern-day St. Nick. He was a 4th Century Greek Christian Bishop in Lycia (pron: Lyshia), a province of Byzantine Anatolia...and now known as Turkey. St. Nick was famous for his generosity and giving gifts to the poor--legend says he even gave three poor girls a dowry so they could get married and not have to go into prostitution. Now that's my kind of saint.

Anyway, of course there are pagan roots to Santa Clause as well, like his connection to the god Odin, but that's another topic. (But I have to ask, who do you think he looks more like, St. Nick in the fresco, or Gandalf, ahem...I mean Odin, to the right?)

The most important thing is that St. Nick's tomb is still in Turkey in Demre (Ancient Myra). Unfortunately, in 1084 a bunch of pesky Italian merchants who were keen on St. Nick pushed past the monks living at the monastery there and raided the sarcophagus. They stole the remains and whisked them off to Italy, where they now remained sealed in a cathedral in Bari,  because for some reason Italy has to have everyone's friggin' remains in their cathedrals. Pesky Italians! Must everything in Turkey relocate to Italy? Is someone still grumpy about losing Constantinople? 

To check out the church and more about the story, click here.