Some people believe that Santa Claus did not exist but truth is that old Father Christmas did in fact exist as a historic personality. He did not come from beyond the North Pole where Reindeers roam, but lived under the warm Lycian sun as Bishop of Myra. His church and ex-tomb continue to exist as places of pilgrimage in the Turkish town of Demre (known also as Kale, near Antalya).

Saint Nicholas was born in Patara, was elected bishop during Diocletian is persecutions, and died in Myra around the year 350. This stories of his charitable acts took on legendary dimensions during the following centuries.