"Turkish town trades St. Nick for Santa
Local hero demoted in statue swapBy Karl Vick
Updated: 12:23 a.m. ET March 24, 2005DEMRE, Turkey - In the 4th century, a bishop named Nicholas was a local hero in this seaside town, living the kind of life that eventually led to sainthood. For most of the 16 centuries that followed, Saint Nicholas was known chiefly as the patron of sailors, barrel-makers, small children and Russians.
And though it's not entirely clear just when the historical Saint Nicholas began to meld into the image of the jolly man in the red suit, historians can now say precisely when the transformation was complete. On Feb. 3, the Demre City Council voted unanimously to erect a statue of Santa Claus in the town square, replacing a bronze statue of the Saint Nicholas who merely lived here. "
More:MSNBC - Turkish town trades St. Nick for Santa
