Saint Nicholas of Myra was a Christian bishop from Myra in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey) around 300 AD.
Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. His legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus (Sant Niklaas or Sinterklaas)
200 years after his death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra over the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church.
Circa 1100, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas’s skeleton from his sarcophagus and brought them to their hometown, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola.
He is also sometimes referred to as Saint Nicholas of Bari.
