Saint Nicholas Relics—

Where are they?

Saint Nicholas’ primary relics are located in a tomb in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola, Bari, Italy. They have rested there since 1087. Many places lay claim to St. Nicholas relics, as listed below.

Saint Nicholas tomb, crypt, Basilica di San Nicola, Bari, Italy

Photo: Postcard detail

The second major repository for St. Nicholas relics is in the monastery church of San Nicoló in the Lido of Venice, Italy.

Altar over reliquary, Chiesa di San Nicoló, the Lido of Venice, Italy

Photo: Centro Studi Nicolaiani, Bari, Italy, used by permission

Monastery of St. Marienstern, Panschwitz-Kuckau, Germany

Saint holding a tooth

Prague, ca 1300

Photo:

Austria

Wilfersdorf: Pfarrkirche Hl. Nikolaus (Roman Catholic)

Belarus

Minsk: Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Orthodox)

Gift of Fribourg Saint Nicolas Cathedral, February 2006

Belgium

Sint-Niklaas: Sint-Nicolaaskerk (Roman Catholic)

Bulgaria

Sofia: Russian Church of St. Nikolai (Russian Orthodox)

Bourgas: Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker (Roman Catholic)

Placed December 6, 2010 (particle)

Sint-Niklaaskerk, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

Photo: postcard Dom Ss. Stephanus & Sixtus, Halberstadt, Germany

Canada

Napierville, Quebec: Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Two Virgins (Roman Catholic) (finger)

Ottawa: Annunciation to the Theotokos/St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral (Orthodox

Toronto: Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church

Denmark

Slangerup: former Skt. Nikolaj Kirke, Slangerup Kloster (Roman Catholic)

Before the Reformation

England

Brighton: Parish Church of St Michael & All Angels (Church of England)

France

Corbie: Abbaye Royale de Saint-Pierre

A finger, gone since 1333

A finger, gone since 1333 Lille, Lorraine: Palais des Beaux Arts

A Tooth

Saint-Nicholas-de-Port, Lorraine: Basilique Saint-Nicolas (Roman Catholic)

Large relic (finger) brought from Bari in 1090, shortly after the 1087 Translation; two more also

Large relic (finger) brought from Bari in 1090, shortly after the 1087 Translation; two more also Toulouse: Eglise Saint-Nicolas (Roman Catholic)

A finger bone

Basilique Saint Nicolas

Saint-Nicolas-de-Port

Photo: M Vankan Basilique Saint Nicolas

Saint-Nicolas-de-Port

Photo: M Vankan Basilique Saint Nicolas

Saint-Nicolas-de-Port

Photo: J Rosenthal

Greece

Amarynthos (Ano Vatheia), Euboea: Katholikon of St. Nicholas

The monastery has many holy relics

The monastery has many holy relics Saint Nicholas Monastery, Apikia, Andros

Church of Agios Nikolaos, Portaria, Thessaly

Germany

Brauweiler: Abteikirche Ss. Nikolaus & Medardus

Reliquary is in the altar

Reliquary is in the altar Halberstadt: Dom St. Stephanus und St. Sixtus (Roman Catholic)

In the cathedral treasury, a finger originally in St. Sophia in Constantinople

In the cathedral treasury, a finger originally in St. Sophia in Constantinople Nikolausberg: Klosterkirche St. Nikolaus

Pilgrimage spot before the Reformation

Pilgrimage spot before the Reformation Panschwitz-Kuckau: St. Marienstern Monastery (tooth)(Roman Catholic)

Worms: Cathedral of St. Peter, Nikolauskapelle

Relics donated in AD 972, lost in Nine Years’ War (1689), manna placed in 1986

Abteikirche St. Nikolaus, Brauweiler, Germany

Photos: M. Vankan Abteikirche St. Nikolaus, Brauweiler, Germany Abteikirche St. Nikolaus, Brauweiler, Germanyy

Italy

Bari: Basilica di San Nicola (Roman Catholic)

St. Nicholas’ tomb is in the crypt

St. Nicholas’ tomb is in the crypt Lido of Venice: Chiesa di San Nicoló (Roman Catholic)

Second location of primary relices; smaller bones, missed in Bari sailor’s haste

Second location of primary relices; smaller bones, missed in Bari sailor’s haste Rimini: Chiesa di San Nicolo’ al Porto

Humerus (upper am), since the early 12th century

Netherlands

Utrecht: St. Nicolaas Parochie (Roman Catholic)

Maastricht: St. Servasskerk (Roman Catholic)

Meijel: Parochie St. Nicolaas (Roman Catholic)

Meijel, Netherlands: Parochie St. Nicolaas

Photo: Marcus Vankan Bari, Italy: Basilica di San Nicola

Photo: J Rosenthal Napierville, Quebec, Canada

Photo:University of Napierville

Palestine

Beit Jala: St Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church

Beit Jala, Palestine: St Nicholas Orthodox Church

Photos: Irina Pavolva, used by permission

Romania

Targu-Mures: Church of St. Nicholas (Greek Catholic Church)

Given by the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Fribourg, December 5, 2008

Given by the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Fribourg, December 5, 2008 Bucharest: Church of New Saint George (Sf Gheorghe Nou) (Orthodox) (right hand)

Given to Prince Michael the Brave by the Archbishop of Bari in 1599

Gift to Prince Michael the Brave by the Archbishop of Bari

Photos:Mystagogy Kept in the Church of New Saint George, Bucharest

Russia

St. Nicholas relics, Petrozavodsk Diocese

Buzhaninovo: St. Nicholas Church

Granted December 19, 2000

Granted December 19, 2000 Kazan: Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Orthodox)

Gift of Marquise Immacolata Solaro del Borgo, June 2007

Gift of Marquise Immacolata Solaro del Borgo, June 2007 Kemerovo, Siberia: Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Orthodox)

Given by Pope Benedict XVI, December 19, 2008

Given by Pope Benedict XVI, December 19, 2008 Petrozavodsk, Karelia: Diocese of Petrozavodsk

Relics travel around the region

Relics travel around the region St. Petersburg: St Nicholas Naval Cathedral (Orthodox)

Given by Empress Alesandra Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, following a visit to Bari

Given by Empress Alesandra Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, following a visit to Bari St. Petersburg: Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr (Orthodox)

Stolen from relic icon August 2012

Scotland

Aberdeen: Kirk of St Nicholas

Before the Reformation

Spain

Murcia: Iglesia San Nicolás de Bari y Santa Catalina de Murcia

Switzerland

Fribourg: Cathedral of Saint Nicolas (Roman Catholic)

Brought from Rome ca 1420 to the Cistercian Abbey of Hauterive, then to Fribourg, May 9, 1506

Nikolauskapelle, Worms Cathedral, Germany

Photo: Worms New reliquary, 1990

Worms Cathedral, Germany

Photo: M Vankan

Ukraine

Irpin: St. Nicholas Church (Ukrainian Orthodox)

Kiev: Church of St Nicholas, National University of State Tax Service of Ukraine (Ukrainian Orthodox)

Kiev: Church of St Nicholas (Roman Catholic)

Manna brought from Bari, gift of the Dominican Fathers, 2002

Manna brought from Bari, gift of the Dominican Fathers, 2002 Lviv: Cerkiew sw. Myukolaya (Ukrainian Orthodox)

Given in the 1500s

United States

This arm reliquary of Saint Nicholas is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection in New York. From around 1315, it is the oldest arm reliquary to survive from Cilicia. The inscription on the wrist, in Armenian: “I, Konstadin katholicos, received this right [arm] of Saint Nicholas with the desire of my heart and gave the order to make this [case for it] for my commemoration at the See of Saint Gregory during the reign of Oshin and his son Levon in the year 774 [1325].”

Annandale, Virginia: Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church

Flushing, New York: St. Nicholas Shrine Church (Greek Orthodox)

Gift of the Holy See in 1972; Translation casket fragment, skull fragments & manna

Gift of the Holy See in 1972; Translation casket fragment, skull fragments & manna Indianapolis, Indiana: St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church

Gift from Bari, Italy, September 25, 2013

Gift from Bari, Italy, September 25, 2013 Livonia, Michigan: Sacred Heart Byzantine Catholic Church

Morton Grove, Illinois: Shrine of All saints, St. Martha of Bethany Church

A collection representing over 1500 saints, pelvic bone

A collection representing over 1500 saints, pelvic bone New York, New York: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

Lost when church destroyed, September 11, 2001

Lost when church destroyed, September 11, 2001 Northridge, California: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

Brought by priest from Bari, Italy, in 1998

Brought by priest from Bari, Italy, in 1998 Olyphant, Pennsylvania: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Orthodox)

Placed in the new altar in 1947

Placed in the new altar in 1947 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, St. Anthony’s Chapel, Troy Hill (Roman Catholic)

Said to have the largest collection of relics (5,000) outside the Vatican, includes 3 St. Nicholas relics

Said to have the largest collection of relics (5,000) outside the Vatican, includes 3 St. Nicholas relics Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church

Gifted by the Romanian Bishop in Italy in 2019



Gifted by the Romanian Bishop in Italy in 2019 Troy, Michigan: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox)

Gift of a Roman Catholic priest in 1992

Gift of a Roman Catholic priest in 1992 West Babylon, New York: St. Nicholas Shrine Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox)

We do not worship relics any more than we do the sun or moon, the angels, archangels, or seraphims. We honor them in honor of He whose faith the saints gave witness. We honor the Master by means of his servants.

— St. Jerome

Like Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians believe that the grace of God present in the saints’ bodies during life remains active in their relics when they have died, and that God uses these relics as a channel of divine power as an instrument of healing.

— Bishop Kallistos Ware



Wherever relics are kept, you find people praying, and not just in their minds but with their bodies, kneeling or prostrating. There is a powerful sense of heaven and earth rubbing against each other. Pilgrims tend to be people who have overcome the temptation to regard relics with suspicion. They reckon that, in most cases, those who found and preserved relics were people who were careful about the truth and were well aware that committing fraud is a grave sin. Lying has never been a plus point for anyone hoping to get into heaven. And if mistakes were sometimes made, or deceptions arranged by people driven by greed, no matter. God will regard the pilgrim’s reverence for a relic as veneration for what it represents rather than what it is.

— Jim Forest, The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of Life

More about relics in other sections

Link

Where’s Santa Buried? Resting Places of the Real St. Nick

from National Geographic from National Geographic

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