Myra was a city in Lycia. The city was probably founded by Lycian on the river Myros, in the fertile alluvial plain between, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea. By the 3rd century BC the city was Hellinized. Following the wars of the diadochi the area came under the loose control of the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, and finally the Romans.
Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus through Sinterklaas.
The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran is the Catholic cathedral of the Diocese of Rome in the city of Rome, and serves as the seat of the bishop of Rome, the pope. The only "archbasilica" in the world, it lies outside of Vatican City proper, which is located approximately four kilometres northwest. Nevertheless, as properties of the Holy See, the archbasilica and its adjoining edifices enjoy an extraterritorial status from Italy, pursuant to the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929. Dedicated to the Christ, in honor of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, the place name, Laterano (Lateran) comes from an ancient Roman family (gens), whose palace (domus) grounds occupied the site; the adjacent Lateran Palace was the primary residence of the pope until the Middle Ages.
Saint Nicholas Day, also called the "Feast of Saint Nicholas", observed on 6 December in Western Christian countries, and on 19 December in Eastern Christian countries using the old church Calendar, is the feast day of Saint Nicholas of Myra; it falls within the season of Advent. It is celebrated as a Christian festival with particular regard to Saint Nicholas' reputation as a bringer of gifts, as well as through the attendance of church services.
A cathedra is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term cathedral became synonymous with the "seat", or principal church, of a bishopric.
May 8 – Eastern Orthodox Church calendar – May 10
May 19 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 21
The beheading of John the Baptist, also known as the decollation of Saint John the Baptist or the beheading of the Forerunner, is a biblical event commemorated as a holy day by various Christian churches. According to the New Testament, Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he had publicly reproved Herod for divorcing his first wife and unlawfully taking his sister-in-law as his second wife Herodias. He then ordered him to be killed by beheading.
Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, is a Catholic church and minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the bishop's palace in Padua, Veneto, Italy.
The Basilica di San Zeno is a minor basilica of Verona, northern Italy constructed between 967 and 1398 AD. Its fame rests partly on its Romanesque architecture and partly upon the tradition that its crypt was the place of the marriage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the ceremonial removal of holy objects from one place to another. Usually only the movement of the remains of a saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony. Translations could be accompanied by many acts, including all-night vigils and processions, often involving entire communities.
Calimerius was an early bishop of Milan. He is honoured as a Saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and his feast day is on July 31.
Fiesole Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of Saint Romulus of Fiesole, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Fiesole, Tuscany, central Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Fiesole and is dedicated to Saint Romulus.
Bari Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Sabinus, is the cathedral of Bari, in Apulia, southern Italy. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Bari-Bitonto, as it was previously of the archbishops, earlier bishops, of Bari. It is dedicated to Saint Sabinus, a bishop of Canosa, whose relics were brought here in the 9th century. It is senior to, though less famous than, Apulia's Basilica of St Nicholas.
St. Nicholas Church is an ancient East Roman basilica church in the ancient city of Myra, now a museum located in modern Demre, Antalya Province, Turkey. It was built above the burial place of Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian bishop of Myra, an important religious figure for Eastern Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics and the historical inspiration for Santa Claus. Its use dated from its 6th century construction for the state church of the Roman Empire by Justinian the Great. The basilica is on UNESCO's tentative list to become a World Heritage Site.
Ancona Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Ancona, central Italy, dedicated to Saint Cyriacus. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Ancona. The building is an example of mixed Romanesque-Byzantine and Gothic elements, and stands on the site of the former acropolis of the Greek city, the Guasco hill which overlooks Ancona and its gulf.
Stephen is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he was a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem who angered members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy at his trial, he made a speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him and was then stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus, later known as Paul the Apostle, a Pharisee and Roman citizen who would later become an apostle, participated in Stephen's execution.
The Translation of the Relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari is a religious and folk holiday among the East Slavs and, to a lesser extent, the South Slavs and Eastern Romance peoples. It is celebrated on May 9 each year. For Old (Julian) Calendar churches, May 9 falls on May 22 of the New (Gregorian) Calendar. The feast commemorates the translation (movement) of the relics of Saint Nicholas from Myra to Bari, on the Italian Peninsula. To this day, the relics remain at the Basilica of Saint Nicholas.
A myroblyte is a Christian saint from whose relics or burial place "an aromatic liquid with healing properties" or "holy water ", known as the Oil of Saints, "is said to have flowed, or still flows", or from whose body emanates a scent known as the odor of sanctity. The exudation of the oil or scent itself is referred to as myroblysia or myroblytism. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, some icons are also believed to release the oil.
In 1099–1100, the Republic of Venice sent a large fleet to assist the First Crusade in the Levant. Under preparation since 1097 or 1096, the fleet sailed after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders and after the fleets of Venice's Genoese and Pisan rivals. The details of the expedition are somewhat obscure, as the main source is a single religious text, which reports a naval battle against a Pisan fleet off the harbour of Rhodes, the discovery and translation of relics purporting to belong to Saint Nicholas from Myra to Venice, and the Venetians' participation in the capture of the port city of Haifa in August 1100, before the fleet returned home.
