caption canonized_by death_date death_place birth_place attributes feast_day venerated_in patronage birth_date titles major_shrine image article_title name
russian life . late 1400s or early 1500s . national museum icon , stockholm . depicting st nicholas with scenes from his pre-congregation 343 12 6 270 3 15 y myra , roman empire -lrb- now in turkey -rrb- patara , roman empire -lrb- now in turkey -rrb- vested wearing an omophorion and holding a gospel book . sometimes as shown with jesus christ over one shoulder , holding a a gospel book , and with the theotokos over the other bishop shoulder , holding an omophorion . in eastern christianity , 6 saint nicholas day -rrb- december 14 december -lrb- main feast day - anglicanism oriental orthodoxy , lutheranism , methodism , presbyterianism , reformed , baptist , catholicism , eastern orthodoxy , children , broadcasters , the falsely accused , repentant thieves , , brewers , pharmacists , archers , pawnbrokers , galway , coopers russia , lorraine and duchy of lorraine . , sailors , fishermen , merchants 270 3 15 y defender bishop of myra of orthodoxy , wonderworker , holy hierarch , basilica di san nicola , bari , italy icon c 1500 st nicholas.jpg saint nicholas
 saint nicholas
saint nicholas

saint nicholas -lrb- , , -rrb- ; -lrb- 15 march 270 ad -- 6 december 343 ad -rrb- , also called nikolaos of myra , was a historic 4th-century christian saint and greek bishop of myra -lrb- demre , part of modern-day turkey -rrb- .
because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession , he is also known as nikolaos the wonderworker -lrb- , -rrb- .
he had a reputation for secret gift-giving , such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him , a practice celebrated on his feast day -- st nicholas day -lrb- 6 december , gregorian calendar , in western christianity and 19 december , julian calendar , in eastern christianity -rrb- ; and thus became the model for santa claus , whose modern name comes from the dutch sinterklaas , itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of `` saint nikolaos '' .
his reputation evolved among the faithful , as was common for early christian saints .
in 1087 , part of the relics -lrb- about half of the bones -rrb- were furtively translated to bari , in apulia , italy ; for this reason , he is also known as nikolaos of bari .
the remaining bones were taken to venice in 1100 .
the historical saint nicholas is commemorated and revered among anglican , catholic , lutheran , and orthodox christians .
in addition , some baptist , methodist , presbyterian , and reformed churches have been named in honor of saint nicholas .
saint nicholas is the patron saint of sailors , merchants , archers , repentant thieves , children , brewers , pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around europe .
