Christian folklore

Santa may be about to don his big red suit, hitch up the reindeer to the sleigh and take off from the icy north pole, but things are done a little differently in Thessaloniki.

Bringing some festive cheer to the northern city, over 30 people on SUPs took to the waters of the Thermaic Gulf on Saturday dressed in Santa outfits.

The white-bearded Christian saint whose acts of generosity inspired America's secular Santa Claus figure is known worldwide - but Saint Nicholas' origin story is not.

The legends surrounding jolly old St Nicholas - celebrated annually on December 6 - go way beyond delivering candy and toys to children.

WHO WAS ST NICHOLAS?

Saint Nicholas served as Bishop of Myra until his death and burial there in A.D. 343

An excavation team has unearthed the exact place of the tomb of Saint Nicholas, also known as "Santa Claus," and the floor on which he walked, inside the St. Nicholas Church in the southern province of Antalya's Demre district.

Harley Davidson bikers dressed in Santa Claus costumes rode through the streets of central Tokyo on Dec. 20 for their annual parade against child abuse, saying more children were vulnerable in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He rides a reindeer-drawn sleigh, makes toys in the North Pole with the help of elves and brings gifts to children through chimneys. Father Christmas is an indispensable part of Christmas every year across the world. But little is known that he was a native of what is today Antalya, a tourist hotspot on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

On December 6, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks the Day of Saint Nicholas, the Miracle Worker.

The traditional dish on that day is fish, most often carp.

According to the legend, St. Nicholas was the patron saint of sailors and fishermen, and more recently is considered the patron of bankers and merchants. Nearly 200,000 people in Bulgaria have a name day.

The Demre district of the Mediterranean province of Antalya was seen in a photograph taken from space for the first time.

SpaceX's spacecraft Crew Dragon interlocked with the International Space Base 19 hours after its launch into space on May 30.

In the first photo sent from the space base, Kekova, a prominent holiday spot in Demre was also seen.

Police officers dressed as Santa Claus and balloon sellers detained six suspects on New Year’s Eve in the Turkish capital Ankara, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Jan. 1. Click through for the story in photos...

Tourists explore the St. Nicholas Church in Turkey's southern province of Antalya. It is notable for being the burial place of St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th-century Christian bishop of the ancient city of Myra, an important religious figure for Eastern Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics and the historical inspiration for Santa Claus.