Why is it said that the Saint Nicholas comes from Spain and not from Turkey?

02.12.2022

According to current tradition, the origin of the Saint is no longer Asia Minor, but Spain. However, Saint Nicholas was born in Patara in Lycia, which is now in Turkey, but in the year 280 belonged to the then Byzantine Empire. Later, as a Lycian, he became bishop of Myra, the capital of Lycia, and took part in the Greek (language) Council of Nicaea. He died on December 6, 342.

After the invasion of the Muslims in the area, the remains of the saint were clandestinely taken to Bari, now Italian, in the then Kingdom of the Both Sicilies (in the part of Naples), where the later Emperor Charles V would become king. . Philip II, his son, would inherit the Netherlands, Spain and the Two Sicilies. Hence the confusion that the Saint would come from Spain.

Sint-Nicolaas is generally the patron of seafaring there. Sinterklaas arrives in Belgium and the Netherlands by steamboat, which is not surprising from that perspective.

When the Amsterdam teacher Jan Schenkman wrote the book 'Saint Nicholas and his servant' in 1850, he in fact gave the starting signal for the modern Sinterklaas celebration. That booklet also contained the text of 'See yonder comes the steamboat'; first as a poem, later it was set to music and has become the mother of all Sinterklaas songs.

Because of the meter, Spain as a country of origin could fit better into the rhyme than any other country. And at that time it was still considered exotic and very far away; perfect for a mythical figure like Saint Nicholas. Moreover, it was easily accessible by steamboat (after all, Saint is also the patron saint of seafarers). In his real life, Saint Nicholas has never even been on Spanish soil. I don't want to call it falsification of history, I prefer to stick to poetic freedom.

The arrival of Sinterklaas with his entourage is the signal for the children that they can put their shoes ready from that moment on and that they can also expect something in them on 6 December.