How did santa claus come from st nicholas?
The modern Santa Claus is a composite character made up from the merging of two quite separate figures: The first of these is Saint Nicholas of Myra, a bishop of Byzantine Anatolia (now in modern-day Turkey) famous for his generous gifts to the poor. The origin of Santa Claus is in St. Nicholas. He was born in Asia Minor at Patara in the province of Lycia. In Lycia St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra during the 4th century. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In Europe he is still portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In Greece, Santa Claus is portrayed as being a spirit of Saint Basil(Vasilis in Greek), a bishop from Caesarea who traditionally comes to Greece on New Year’s Day riding on a donkey. Recently though, Greek tradition has conformed to have Santa Claus come around Christmas time. The second character is Father Christmas, which remains the British name for Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far a
