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, where they have rested since 1087.

Altar with opening over tomb
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
Altar over reliquary, Chiesa di San Nicoló, the Lido of Venice, Italy
Photo: Centro Studi Nicolaiani, Bari, Italy, used by permission
Gold reliquary, figure of St Nicholas
Monastery of St. Marienstern, Panschwitz-Kuckau, Germany
Saint holding a tooth
Prague, ca 1300
Photo:

Many other places lay claim to St. Nicholas relics, as listed below. All are first class relics unless otherwise noted.

Austria

  • Wilfersdorf: Pfarrkirche Hl. Nikolaus (Roman Catholic)

Belarus

  • Minsk: Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Orthodox)
    Gift of Fribourg Saint Nicolas Cathedral, February 2006
Wooden chest
Gift to Minsk from Fribourg,
Photos:University of Fribourg
Open wooden chest, showing relic
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)
  • Plovdiv: St. Nikolaly Mirlikiski Miracle Worker Church
    Gift of Cypriot Orthodox Church, May 9, 2015
Silver bust on large base
Sint-Niklaaskerk, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Photo: postcard
Hand on large stand
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

Egypt

  • Banha: St Nicholas Coptic Church
    Relics and manna

England

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

France

  • Corbie: Abbaye Royale de Saint-Pierre
    A finger, gone since 1333
  • Lille, Lorraine: Palais des Beaux Arts
    A Tooth, moved from a small Lille church during the 19th century
Oval reliquary
13th century reliquary
Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille, France
Open wooden chest, showing relic
Reverse
  • 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
  • Toulouse: Eglise Saint-Nicolas (Roman Catholic)
    A finger bone
Silver bust
Basilique Saint Nicolas
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port
Photo: M Vankan
Hand on tall stand
Basilique Saint Nicolas
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port
Photo: M Vankan
Ornate gold box
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
  • Saint Nicholas Monastery, Apikia, Andros
  • Church of Agios Nikolaos, Portaria, Thessaly

Germany

  • Brauweiler: Abteikirche Ss. Nikolaus & Medardus
    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
  • 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
Image on reliquary
Abteikirche St. Nikolaus, Brauweiler, Germany
Photos: M. Vankan
Small oval with relic
Abteikirche St. Nikolaus, Brauweiler, Germany
Identifying label
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
  • Tortorici: Chiesa di San Nicolò
    In the altar

Lebanon

  • Saint Zakhia Chapel, Mradiyeh (Maronite Catholic)

Netherlands

  • Amsterdam: Basiliek van de Heilige Nicolaas (Roman Catholic)
    Gift from Egmond Abbey
  • Egmond aan den Hoef—Bakkum in Egmond-Binnen: Egmond Abbey (Roman Catholic)
    Received from Bari in 1087
  • Heythuysen: St. Nicolaaskerk (Roman Catholic)
    Received from Egmond Abbey in 2022
  • Utrecht: St. Nicolaas Parochie (Roman Catholic)
  • Maastricht: St. Servasskerk (Roman Catholic)
  • Meijel: Parochie St. Nicolaas (Roman Catholic)
  • Odijk: Nicolaaskerk (Roman Catholic)
Relic in sunburst reliquary
Meijel, Netherlands: Parochie St. Nicolaas
Photo: Marcus Vankan
Half-figure holding relic box with three gold balls
Bari, Italy: Basilica di San Nicola
Photo: J Rosenthal
Gold hand on large stand
Napierville, Quebec, Canada
Photo:University of Napierville

Palestine

  • Beit Jala: St Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church
St Nicolas relic
Beit Jala, Palestine: St Nicholas Orthodox Church
Photos: Irina Pavolva, used by permission
St Nicolas relic
St Nicolas relic
St Nicolas relic

Poland

  • Zegocina: Church of Bishop St. Nicholas (Roman Catholic)

Romania

  • Targu-Mures: Church of St. Nicholas (Greek Catholic Church)
    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; these relics travel to the Romanian diaspora and have been to the United States, Germany, and Austria
Silver reliquary
Gift to Prince Michael the Brave by the Archbishop of Bari
Photos:Mystagogy
Reliquary chest
Kept in the Church of New Saint George, Bucharest
Wooden chest

Russia

Reliquary
St. Nicholas relics, Petrozavodsk Diocese
  • Buzhaninovo: St. Nicholas Church
    Granted December 19, 2000
  • 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
  • Moscow: Church of St Nicholas in Pyzhi
  • Nakhodka: Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
    Gift from the City of Bari in 2010; particle of relics & coffin
  • Petrozavodsk, Karelia: Diocese of Petrozavodsk
    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
  • 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
Icon with manna in boat
Nikolauskapelle, Worms Cathedral, Germany
Photo: Worms
Manna bottle in boat
New reliquary, 1990
Worms Cathedral, Germany
Photo: M Vankan

Ukraine

  • Dubno: Dubno St. Nicholas Orthodox Monastery
  • 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
  • Kopychyntsi, Church of St. Nicholas
  • Kryvyi Rih, Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas
  • Lviv: Cerkiew sw. Myukolaya (Ukrainian Orthodox)
    Given in the 1500s

United States

Arm Reliquary
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
    Bone fragment, given between 1973 & 2011; also manna
  • Flushing, New York: St. Nicholas Shrine Church (Greek Orthodox)
    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
  • 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
  • Hayward, California: Moreau Catholic High School
    The relic is venerated on St. Nicholas' Feast Day
  • New York, New York: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
    Lost when church destroyed, September 11, 2001
    New relic from Mt. Athos placed in high altar by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the inauguration of the reconstructed church, November 2, 2021
  • Northridge, California: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
    Brought by priest from Bari, Italy, in 1998
  • Olyphant, Pennsylvania: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (Orthodox)
    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
  • Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
    Gifted by the Romanian Bishop in Italy in 2019
  • Tarpon Springs, Florida, Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral
    The relic is carried around the perimeter of the building on St. Nicholas feast day for protection
  • 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)

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
Examination of a Relic
A pelvic bone held in Illinois is examined at Oxford University
Traveling Relics
St. Nicholas relics travel from Bari, Italy, to Russia
Amsterdam Church Receives Relic
Gift from Egmond Abbey

Relics enshrined in St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Flushing, NY
Article from the New York Times
Devotion and Use of the Manna of Saint Nicholas

More about relics in other sections

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
How Saint Nicholas May Have Looked
Several interpretations based on data and digital techniques
St. Nicholas: The Great Adventure (The Story of a Man and His Remains)
A history of the anatomical investigations of the skeletal remains of St. Nicholas of Myra
by lead investigator Luigi Martino

Links

Where's Santa Buried? Resting Places of the Real St. Nick
from National Geographic
Where in the World Are Santa Claus's Bones?
from Atlas Obscura

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