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The Legend of Santa Claus
The Legend of Santa Claus
De Nicolás de Bari, a bishop of the 4th century born in Patara -actually Turkish territory-
, was born the story of Santa Claus. Although in its image it does have some red hue, it is
not the color that stands out. In fact, in many representations it is dressed in green. It is
slender and carries stars and crosses in its attire, elements that the current Santa Claus
does not have.
He is credited with a miracle that gave him fame and with which the story of Santa Claus began.
According to historians, a ruined father was forced to prostitute his three daughters. Nicolás de
Bari slipped some coins through the chimney of the family home to alleviate their situation of
poverty and that the girls stopped selling their bodies. The coins fell into the woolen stockings
that the three sisters had hung to dry in the fireplace. From that anecdote came the idea that this
legendary character would slide down the chimney and leave his gifts in the hanging socks.
When 1624 Dutch immigrants founded New Amsterdam - now New York - they also
imported their customs, including the Feast of St. Nicholas. Different is the representation
that two decades later, in 1823, the poet Clement Clarke Moore made the Santa of Irving.
In this case, he defined the Christmas character as a dwarf and thin elf. As now, the goblin
gave toys to children on Christmas Eve and drove a sleigh pulled by reindeer, making the
first appearance of the beloved Rudolph (Rodolfo).
To this day, the story tells that Santa Claus lives in the North Pole accompanied by Mrs.
Noel and a group of elves who are in charge of making the toys that children want from
all over the world. When the night of December 24th arrives, Santa Claus loads all his
gifts in a sack and travels around the world leaving the children's gifts under the Christmas
tree.
To be able to transport the gifts, Santa Claus would keep them in a magic bag and
distribute them at 00:00 on the 25th of December, in a magical flying sled, thrown by
Christmas reindeer, led by Rodolfo; A reindeer that lights the way with his red and shiny
nose.
Santa Claus, the old Pascuero or St. Nicholas is the character that illuminates the boys at
Christmas. It is important to keep the legend of Santa Claus alive in the minds of the
smallest as long as possible, so that the fantasy does not die.