Basilica of St. Nicholas (Relics of St. Nicholas)

The Story

The Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, on Italy's Adriatic coast, guards the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra, the fourth-century bishop whose generosity made him one of the most venerated saints in both East and West — and, in later centuries, the root of the figure of Santa Claus. Nicholas served as bishop of Myra in Lycia, in modern Turkey, in the early fourth century. Little is known of his life with historical certainty, but tradition remembers him as a defender of the faith and a man of hidden charity, most famously in the account of his secretly providing dowries of gold for three poor sisters. His tomb at Myra became a major pilgrimage site of the Christian East. In 1087, with Myra under Seljuk control, sixty-two sailors from Bari carried the saint's relics across the sea to their city — a 'translation' celebrated ever since. Pope Urban II laid the relics beneath the altar of the newly built crypt in 1089, and the great Romanesque basilica rose over them between 1087 and 1197, becoming a model of Apulian Romanesque architecture and one of medieval Europe's great pilgrimage churches. Tradition also reports that the relics exude a clear liquid known as the 'manna,' collected with devotion each year. The basilica holds a singular place in Christian unity: because St. Nicholas is so deeply venerated in the Orthodox Churches, Bari has become a meeting point between East and West, with Orthodox pilgrims praying at the tomb and an Orthodox chapel provided in the crypt. Pilgrims mark the saint's feast on December 6 and the festival of the translation each May, when the city honors its patron by land and sea.

Church Recognition

The Basilica of St. Nicholas is a pontifical basilica entrusted to the Dominican friars, and St. Nicholas is honored on the General Roman Calendar on December 6; the shrine is also a recognized center of Catholic–Orthodox encounter.

Catholic Teaching

The veneration of St. Nicholas's relics expresses the Church's teaching on the honor due to the saints' bodies, destined for resurrection (CCC 1674; 946–962), and his charity models the Gospel command to give in secret (Mt 6:3–4).

Plan Your Visit

Open only what you need. Expand all

Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The basilica's crypt holds the relics; a site of both Catholic and Orthodox pilgrimage.

Go Deeper

See the basilica's official website at https://www.basilicasannicola.it, CCC 1674 on the veneration of relics, and resources on the saint's life and the 1087 translation available through the basilica and the Dominican community that serves it.