Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay has said his ministry plans to request the return of the bones of St. Nicholas, better known as Santa Claus, from Italy to exhibit in a museum to be dedicated to the Lycians in the western part of Turkey”s Mediterranean region.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Günay explained the Culture and Tourism Ministry”s plans to establish a “Museum of Lycian Civilization” by transforming a historic Roman building into a museum. Günay said information and items relating to leading figures and events from the Lycian civilization would be collected. “St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, was born in Patara, a former name for Antalya, and died in [Antalya”s] Demre district. His bones were stolen by Italian craftsmen in 1087 and taken to Bari in Italy. Of course, the first item we will request [from Italy] as an exhibit in the museum will be the bones of Santa Claus.”
“We still have to discuss the museum with historians. There is no schedule at present. Once the restoration of the building is complete, we will, of course, take steps to exhibit Santa Claus”s bones there,” he noted. St. Nicholas was born in what was then the Greek city of Myra in the third century and went on to become the local bishop, with a reputation for performing miracles and secretly giving gold to the needy. After his death he was canonized as Saint Nicholas and venerated in much of the Christian world. But in the 11th century his bones were taken to the port of Bari, where they remain interred.
Resource: Today”s Zaman
