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.

Crazy Things That Apparently Originated in Turkey: Number Two!

NUMBER TWO: The Christmas tree decoration ritual. Oh yeah, it's from Turkey. Apparently, even though almost everyone agrees that the christmas tree decoration originated in pre-Christian England or the Germanic peoples, archeologist Muazzez Ilmiye Çığ(nope--I can't pronounce it either) has a new opinion to share: Turks invented the Christmas tree.

Çığ argues that the ritual stems from the Turkish tradition of the wish-making tree. Apparently people put special things for God under a white pine around the time of the winter solstice (Dec. 22nd), in hopes of getting blessed by God the following year. They also tied special cloths on the tree's boughs, much like putting on ornaments. All of this was part of small festivities to celebrate the sun (like oh so many other pagan traditions), and people would "clean homes, sing folk songs, eat special foods and put on festive clothing."

But here's where he gets really convincing. Apparently this was a ritual originally practiced in Turkic Central Asia, then migrated to the Anatolian region (what is now Turkey). The birth of Jesus never used to be celebrated with a Christmas tree, but when the Council of Nicaea met in 325 A.D. (yes, in Turkey), it's possible that these traditions began to sneak their way through Europe. (Okay, it didn't quite sneak; Çığ says that it was Hunnish warriors that introduced it to Europe, so I’m guessing some murderous pillaging came along with it: Bow before my Christmas tree or I’ll chop off your head!).

Not everyone is down with this theory--in fact even some Turkish historians consider it wishful thinking. While there’s certainly some serious fact checking to do...it's definitely interesting! Still not a believer? For more on the topic, click here.