The district in Porto that is named after Santa Claus

Est.reading time: 5 min

Unlikely old stories 

  Read on to learn more about Porto's relationship with the friendliest and most generous of all white-bearded-red-suited old chaps - and possibly find out more about Santa's origins!

(street name sign in Porto's most touristic district)

Are there facts?

Well, we know for a fact that Santa is featuring Coca-Cola ads since the 1920's. 

And, while some say the famous Greek bishop St. Nicholas (aka Santa Klaus, Sinterklaas, Nicolaus, Klaus, Mikulas, Nikolay, Niklas,...!) existed only in legend without any reliable historical evidence, we know that legends usually do grow out of real, actual events - even if they are embellished and interwoven with a bit of imagination. 

​And we believe the Christmas season is the perfect occasion to share a couple of these stories with runners who visit Porto, especially while running through S. Nicolau district, one of the touristic hotspots of Porto.

In Porto, Santa goes by the name of Nicolau

  It is only natural that a city of merchants, of sailors, this close to the Atlantic, had to devote a church to St.Nicholas - and named a parish after him, our dearest São Nicolau. 

Why?

​  Several stories tell of Nicholas and the sea. One tells of an episode when Nicholas sought the divine by making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, walking where Jesus walked, to try to experience Jesus' life. Returning by sea, a mighty storm threatened to wreck the ship he was in. Nicholas calmly prayed. The terrified sailors in his ship were amazed when the wind and waves suddenly calmed, sparing them all. And so St. Nicholas became the patron of sailors and voyagers. He's presently also the patron saint of Russia, Norway and Greece (and its navy).  

 Nicholas was so widely revered that thousands of churches were named for him, including thirty-four in Rome, twenty-three in the Netherlands, three hundred in Belgium  and more than four hundred in England... oh and, of course, the one in Porto!
​

Outlined on the map: the district of São Nicolau, in Porto.

The district of São Nicolau includes Ribeira, one of the most instagrammable places of Porto...!

Murder and ressurection: Nicholas' involvement

Another (tragic) tale with a happy ending: The French tell a story of three small children, who were wandering in their play, got lost in the woods, and were lured and captured by an evil butcher.

The butcher then kept their bodies in a basin filled with salt to preserve them. After quite some time, St. Nicholas appears and appeals to God to return them to life and to their families, which allegedly happened . 

Hence St. Nicholas became the patron and protector of children.​

St.Nicholas iconography frequently includes 3 small children in a basin. Here in Porto, in S.Nicolau's church, these can be seen inside. There's also one outside, in a niche.

Prostitution and St. Nicholas... say what!?

This brings us to our favorite St. Nicholas story, the one that tells of a poor man with three daughters. In those days in Demre—Nicholas’ home region in Turkey/formerly Greece—any young woman’s father had to offer a prospective husband something of value, a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry.

Sadly, this poor man’s daughters were therefore destined to lead a life of poverty... or possibly, as it was also common in that part of the coastal city, of prostitution...

Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared inside their home, providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed by Nicholas through an open window (or chimney, in some versions!), are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry! ​

 ​  This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. And so St. Nicholas became a gift-giver.(source)

St.Nicholas is traditionally portrayed holding a bag of coins in his hand.

The church of São Nicolau in Porto. Photo credits: visitporto.travel

How did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus?

Let's got to Germany: in the country, Catholic (katholisch) and Protestant (evangelisch) Christmas customs coexist for centuries. When Martin Luther, the great Protestant Reformer, came along, he wanted to get rid of the Catholic elements of Christmas. To replace Sankt Nikolaus (Protestants don’t emphasize saints), Luther introduced der Heilige Christ (later called das Christkindl), an angel-like Christ Child, to bring Christmas gifts and thus reduce the importance of Saint Nicholas.

During the next couple of centuries, this Christkindl figure was gradually replaced by der Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas) in Protestant regions, and even across the Atlantic where Christkindl mutated into the American English term “Kris Kringle”. 

​Ironically, in the present day, the originally Protestant Christkindl is now predominant in the Catholic regions of Germany and Switzerland, as well as in Austria. (source)

credits: The Coca-Cola company

St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) is celebrated in some European countries - instead of December 25th.   December is actually the month that shop owners adore, even more than some children do!  In Slovenia, for instance, in a single month, there are three days on which gifts are given, and the first of them is the traditional St. Nicholas Day. The day marks Nicholas' death, which occurred in around AD 343  (source). 

 In Porto and Portugal, like in other Catholic European regions, gifts are handed out during Christmas day or in the Eve, December 24th, depending on each family's habits. 

photo credits: Porto Lazer

Sarcasm sometimes rhymes with Porto.

A mere 50 meters away, built atop the ruins of the old S. Francisco Convent (destroyed during the Siege of Porto), the Merchants Association headquarters—the Palácio da Bolsa—looms over S. Nicolau's Church.

The Merchants Association of Porto, perhaps one of the most Catholic-adverse organizations in the country at that time, was founded in 1834. The chosen date for its establishment was, with deep sarcasm... Christmas Day, December 25th!
​
This same organization ordered one of their building's rooms to be decorated in the Arabic style, boldly inscribing on its walls the phrase "God save Maria II, the Queen" in Arabic. This was done to deeply annoy Porto's Catholic representatives of that time.

​The Merchants Association was clearly keen on demonstrating its secularism and independence from the undesirable (in their POV), century-old rule of the local Catholic Church.

Palácio da Bolsa, as seen from S.Nicolau street. Photo credits: Joaquim Oliveira, 2018

Palácio da Bolsa, headquarters of the Merchants Association of Porto. Credits: ACP

Season's greetings

  Now, If you're afraid of missing out on any of the Christmas markets this year in Porto, our recommended option would obviously be.... our one and only... Heart of Porto running tour!

Regardless of whether you still believe in Santa Claus, and regardless of whether this post contained old news or revelations, you'll always be welcome to run with us in Porto - and we'll always be available to share these (and many other) great stories with you.

photo credits: Joaquim Oliveira

On behalf of Porto Running Tours' team, I am wishing all of you, runners and non-runners, a merry holiday season! 

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