31/05/2026
The Lord Sheriff on pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Nicholas.
Known as Nicholas of Myra born March 270 – died 6 December 343, also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire.
How did his remains get to Bari in Italy?
Less than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Emperor Theodosius II on the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved there. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Byzantine Empire temporarily lost control over most of Asia Minor to the invading Seljuk Turks, and so Christian Byzantine Greeks of Myra became subjects of the newly arrived Muslim Turks. In 1087 a group of sailors from Bari took the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the church (without permission) and brought them to their hometown just 16 years after it had been conquered by Normans, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica Pontificia di San Nicola - Bari.
After nearly 750 years buried in his homeland St Nicholas has now spent over 900 years in Bari.
St Nicholas is, along with St George probably the best-loved Saint of the Eastern Christian Church.
