Relics of St. Nicholas—
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

Monastery of St. Marienstern, Panschwitz-Kuckau, Germany Saint holding a tooth Prague, ca 1300 Photo: New Liturgical Movement

Austria
Wilfersdorf: Pfarrkirche Hl. Nikolaus (Roman Catholic)

Belarus
Minsk: Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Orthodox)
     Gift of Fribourg Saint Nicolas Cathedral, February 2006

Gift to Minsk from Fribourg, 2006 Photos: University of Fribourg

Belgium
Sint-Niklaas: Sint-Nicolaaskerk (Roman Catholic)

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

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)

Denmark
Slangerup: former Skt. Nikolaj Kirke, Slangerup Kloster (Roman Catholic)
     Before the Reformation

France
Corbie: Abbaye Royale de Saint-Pierre
     A finger gone, since 1333
Saint-Nicholas-de-Port, Lorraine: Basilique Saint-Nicolas (Roman Catholic)
     Large relic brought from Bari shortly after the 1087 Translation
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

Germany
Brauweiler: Abteikirche Ss. Nikolaus & Medardus
     Reliquary is in the altar
Halberstadt: Dom St. Stephanus und St. Sixtus (Roman Catholic)
     In the cathedral treasury
Nikolausberg: Klosterkirche St. Nikolaus
     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
Lido of Venice: Chiesa di San Nicoló (Roman Catholic)
     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)

Bari, Italy: Basilica di San Nicola Photo: J Rosenthal

Napierville, Quebec, Canada Photo: University of Napierville

Romania
Targu-Mures: Church of St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Church
     Given by the St. Nicolas Cathedral in Fribourg, December 5, 2008

Russia
Kazan: Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Orthodox)
     Gift of Marquise Immacolata Solaro del Borgo, June 2007
Kemerovo, Siberia: Cathedral of St. NIcholas (Orthodox)
     Given by Pope Benedict XVI, December 19, 2008
St. Petersburg: St NIcholas Naval Cathedral (Orthodox)
     Given by Empress Alesandra Fyodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas I, following a visit to Bari

Scotland
Aberdeen: Kirk of St Nicholas
     Before the Reformation

Switzerland
Fribourg: Cathedral of Saint Nicolas (Roman Catholic)
     Brought from Rome ca 1420 to the Cistercian Abbey of Hauterive, then to Freiburg, 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
Lviv: Cerkiew sw. Myukolaya (Ukrainian Orthodox)
     Given in the 1500s

United States
Annandle, Virginia: Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church
Flushing, New York: St. Nicholas Shrine Church (Greek Orthodox)
     Gift of the Holy See in 1972
New York, New York: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
     Lost when church destroyed, September 11, 2001 
Olyphant, Pennsylvania: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Orthodox)
     Placed in the new altar in 1947
Troy, Michigan: Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox)
     Gift of a Roman Catholic priest in 1992
West Babylon, New York: St. Nicholas Shrine Greek Orthodox Church (Greek Orthodox)

Anatomical Examination of the Bari Relics
The only thorough identification and cataloging of the relics
Is St. Nicholas in Venice, too?
Examination of relics in the Lido of Venice
St. Nicholas in the Antalya Museum
Examination of the museum's bones
The Real Face of St. Nicholas
Forensic reconstruction based on anatomical data
How Saint Nicholas may have looked
Several interpretations based on data and digital techniques