Where did Santa Claus come from?

Upon reading the title above this article, you might be tempted to reply "the North Pole" - and who knows, you might even be right. That is: should Santa Claus really exist, of course. Don't tell your kids, but the "holy man" is a figure of legend, a folk fable. So who invented him? And was Santa actually invented, or did he evolve out of other legendary figures?

As it turns out, Santa Claus is the English version of Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas (or, more correctly, Sint-Niklaas) was a Turkish bishop who gave away his whole fortune to the young and needy, and every year in his memory parents in quite a few continental European countries celebrate the Sinterklaas festival on the 6th of December by giving toys, chocolate, marzipan and tangerines to their kids.

And their name is not the only thing Santa Claus and Sinterklaas have in common: the Sint, as he's casually called in Dutch speaking countries, goes around dressed in a fancy red costume and sports a big white beard - much like his counterpart from the North Pole.

Santa Baba?

Santa is a fixture in the Christmas traditions of many countries around the world, though he does not always go by the same name. His most frequently used English alias is Father Christmas, and there are many deliciously weird sounding ones from all over the world: in Turky (not to be confused with the classic Christmas dish) he is called "Noel Baba", in Bulgaria he goes by "Dyado Koleda", in Albania kids address their wish lists to "Babadimri", the Italians refer to our bearded friend as "Babbo Natale", the Russians call him "Ded Moroz", and the list goes on.

And Santa doesn't always visit on the same day either: the figure of a man bearing gifts may be a worldwide phenomenon, but various religions or religious factions have all chosen to colour in the specifics of this tradition in their own ways. So is it that in Eastern Orthodox traditions, the merry man comes round on New Year's Day.

Rudolph & co

One thing seems to be common in all the various depictions of Santa Claus: he is a good and jolly man with a big round tummy who's just crazy about kids and loves giving them presents to make them happy and reward them for being good all year long.

The American iconography has added many - usually totally incredible yet highly amusing - elements to the legend: Santa is said to make his way round the world in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, he is supposed to live on the North Pole and have a legion of elves to assist him (Santa's little helpers), and said to deliver his presents by climbing down the chimneys of the houses he visits. Santa is also married, and he, Mrs Claus and the elves spend 363 days out of the year making toys in their North Pole toy factory. Ho ho ho!