Bones Of Saint Nicholas Reveal What Santa Claus Really Looked Like

In 1953, church personnel in Bari, Italy, opened up the tomb of St. Nicholas in order to start the process of mitigating water damage to the crypt over nearly a millennium. Once restoration was complete, in 1957, an Italian anatomy professor named Luigi Martino was the first modern researcher -- and only researcher known to date -- to do a complete osteological analysis of the bones of the saint.  His anatomical discoveries reveal a different image of what Santa Claus looked like than what is commonly seen in popular culture.

Published later that year in the Bolletino di San Nicola, Martino outlined his findings from x-rays and measurements of the bones.  They represented the remains of a male individual who was over 70 years old at the time of his death. He was of average height for the time, which was only about 5'4", with a slender-to-average build.  St. Nicholas' short, wide face had wide cheekbones, a broad forehead, and a slightly jutting chin.  His medium-width nose showed evidence of a healed fracture. As is common in people of that advanced age, St. Nicholas had numerous decayed teeth, as well as chronic arthritis of the spine and pelvis.

St. Nicholas is, of course, best known for his penchant for generosity and gift-giving, leading to his eventual evolution, through the Dutch name Sinterklaas, into our modern Santa Claus, bringing presents for good girls and boys.

Based on this thorough analysis of the skeleton, numerous reconstructions have been made over the years in an attempt to reveal what St. Nicholas -- and therefore Santa Claus -- looked like.  The most recent reconstruction was undertaken in December of 2014 by forensic specialist Caroline Wilkinson at Liverpool John Moores University. For it, she used tissue depth information from men from Turkey, where St. Nicholas was born, along with CGI techniques to propose the visage of Santa.

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St. Nicholas was born in 270 AD in Patara, in modern-day Turkey, and after losing his parents at a young age, was raised by his uncle, the bishop of Myra. Nicholas eventually took over that role from his uncle. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Nicholas was imprisoned for his faith for five years, which possibly exacerbated the debilitating arthritis discovered on his bones. It wouldn't be his first run-in with the law.

By 325 AD, Nicholas was heavily involved in the First Council of Nicaea, where he became so furious with the heretic bishop Arius that they got into a fist fight.  This may be where Nicholas suffered the broken nose that Martino discovered many centuries later. Nicholas was thrown in jail for hitting the other bishop, but he spent just one night there. In the morning, jailers discovered Nicholas had escaped from his chains, and the emperor Constantine ordered him freed and reinstated as bishop of Myra.

After his death in 343 AD, the body of  St. Nicholas was buried in Myra, Turkey, and it became a popular pilgrimage spot. But in the spring of 1087, a group of Christian sailors based in Bari, Italy, began to get worried because Myra was being overtaken from the Roman Empire by Seljuk Turks. Perhaps fearing for the safety of Nicholas's bones in a potential Muslim conquest, or perhaps realizing they could capitalize on the confusion sparked by the battle in order to gain control over the relics, the sailors seized most of Nicholas's bones and brought them back to Bari. A few bits remained in Myra, where they are showcased to this day.

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Interestingly, the bones are purported to exude a rose-smelling liquid called manna or myrrh. Every year on the saint's feast day, December 6, manna is collected from the tomb in Bari.  Although investigation of the crypt did not reveal any cracks through which water could infiltrate, the assumption is that condensation resulting from the tomb's being underground in a seaside city creates the liquid.

If the bones remain in the water, it's only a matter of time until they decompose entirely.  The bone remains are already in poor shape, having decomposed for centuries in Turkey, having endured a rough ocean voyage to get to Italy, having been inundated with water for several more centuries, and then having been taken out, dried, and returned to the water following the crypt reconstruction in the late 1950s.

In a recent twist, though, Turkey has mounted a claim for return of the bones to a new museum in Myra.  In 2009, 2012, and again in 2013, the Turkish Ministry of Culture has petitioned the Italian government and the Vatican for repatriation of the saint based on laws surrounding illegal ancient transport of antiquities and other items of historical significance.

We will have to wait and see what happens in the end to the bones of Santa Claus.  For the Turkish people, though, once the crypt is set up in the museum with care, they have hopes that Saint Nicholas soon will be there.