site.btaWhy Do Turks Believe in Santa Claus?

A large number of Turks believe that Santa Claus was a real person.

Their Santa Claus, however, is not the contemporary fairy tale old man with a long white beard who rides his sleigh from the North Pole, but a saint who was called Saint Nicholas [in Turkish Aziz Nikola].

Staint Nicholas, who is believed to have inspired the myth of Santa Claus, lived along the shores of the eastern Mediterranean near Antalya where it never snows.
The man who would become Saint Nicholas was born in 270 AD  in the ancient Lycian city of Patara, an important city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkiye [in today's Demre District]. Nicholas came from a wealthy and pious family. His uncle was a bishop in the local church who fervently preached the Christian faith. At the age of 19, Nikolas became a monk.

After the death of his parents, Nikolas gave away all their wealth, which was quite considerable for the time, to the poor people of the city and the surrounding area and he devoted himself to living a modest life. After his uncle died, he took his place, became a priest and served as bishop in the local church, the ruins of which are preserved near Demre.

This was a time when Christians were subjected to severe persecution. But the priest Nicholas defended the Christian faith so fervently in his sermons that after his death he was declared a saint.

Father Nicholas often visited the sick, children and the elderly and treated them for free, he donated food, clothes, bags of gold to poor people, leaving them at their doorstep at night without identifying himself. This was the origin of the stories of a good old man who gave selflessly, that will in time evolve to the myth of Santa Claus, as he is known today. 

One legend about Saint Nickolas was about a father who had three daughters but went broke and decided to sell them. When he learned about this, Father Nicholas thought for a long time how to help. One night, he put 300 gold coins in a towel and, when everyone was asleep, he threw the gold coins wrapped in the towel through an open window. In the morning, when the father woke up, he found the towel and prayed in gratitude, promising to use the gold to marry off his daughters.

Saint Nicholas was often depicted dropping gifts and food down the chimney to children. 

In many legends, he was said to be persecuted and forced into exile far from his homeland. When he returned, the local people were so thirsty for their bishop's sermons that they filled the church to capacity.

The legends about Saint Nicholas spread beyond the borders of ancient Lycia, to Russia and in many European countries.

 He died in 346. For a long time, the relics of the saint were kept in his native land, but later they were transferred to the Italian city of Bari. The monastery was looted and destroyed by earthquakes through the years.

There is a bronze statue of Saint Nicholas in the town of Demre, Antalya County, where he is believed to have been born.

There is also a museum named after him in Demre, which is one of the most visited tourist sites in Antalya. Frescoes with images of Saint Nicholas are preserved in the museum.

Local sailors consider the saint to be the patron saint of the eastern Mediterranean, which is why his picture or icon is present on almost every boat or ship. Before setting sail, the sailors say: "May Aziz Nikola steer the rudder".

Over time, the Turks began to call Staint Nicholas "Noel Dede" [Santa Claus] under the influence of the Christian tradition.

Every year in the month of December, tourists from the country and abroad flock to Demre to spend the Christmas holidays in the places that keep the memory of the kindness and generosity of the saint.

Orthodox couples come to the museum in Demre to get married.

Christmas and Noel Dede or Saint Nicholas are two different things, but both carry one messege: the belief in the good deeds of man and in their permanence regardless of race, creed and language.