Original subtitles

[Josh reading]

["We wish you a merry Christmas" music playing]

The story of Santa is one we think we all know.

But where did it come from?

This legend that glows long before Santa

and Saint Nick were the same.

It was Nick, a mere mortal who started the flame.

So who was this guy,

the first man with the sack?

To discover the answers we need to go back.

["Carol of the Bells" music playing]

[Josh] Almost 2000 years to a pre Santa time

when Nick was a bishop.

In his miracle Prime.

It said he saved a poor family,

by giving them gold.

And rescued those drowning from an ocean so cold.

Did he resurrect children who were pickled and dead.

Or invade the dreams of the emperor

to dance in his head.

His life also holds answers to mysteries we share,

like leaving gifts out of sight

or hanging stockings with care.

To unravel the legends.

Saint Nick left clues behind.

His body was buried forever enshrined.

But there's a twist in the tale

that leads us back to today.

You see, his tomb was invaded, his bones spirited away.

His grave was robbed twice.

Believe it or not.

And his final location is argued a lot.

Some say he's in Bari or is it in Venice he rests.

One guy is convinced that he's in the Midwest.

Can his bones be examined?

Can we help crack the case?

And could DNA finally give Santa a face?

The search for Saint Nick and his bones is my mission.

So let's find the fellow

behind our Christmas traditions.

[narrator] The past is all around us.

Oh this is crazy.

[narrator] A world of mystery.

-[Josh] This is a plane. -[man] Yeah.

Ha-ha!

[narrator] Danger.

We are about to be underwater.

Whoa!

[narrator] And adventure.

[Josh] It's just straight down.

[gasping]

[Josh] I travel to the far corners of the earth

to uncover where legends end.

[shouting, laughs]

And history begins.

Let's punch it.

I'm Josh Gates,

and this is...

[Josh reading]

If you were to close your eyes

and summon the world of Santa Claus,

You'd almost certainly picture yourself

standing on freshly fallen snow at the North Pole.

And not well here

But it turns out the legend of Santa

or Noel Baba, as he's known in these parts,

begins nearly 4000 miles from Santa's workshop.

Here on the edge of the Mediterranean.

Welcome

to Turkey.

This rugged spit of land in the Mediterranean Sea

is Gemiler Island, the place of boats.

It is said that sailors stopped here

for divine blessing on their way to the Holy Land.

But it is also known as Saint Nicholas Island.

And that's because about 1700 years ago,

a famous bishop by that name

was reportedly laid to rest here.

The centuries old rumor says

that this long abandoned church,

still sporting a set of stunning mosaic floors,

is the original burial place of the man,

who would eventually become Santa.

There's just one small issue.

There is absolutely no physical evidence

that he was ever interred here.

And this is the problem

with the historical Saint Nick.

He's intertwined with the world's most

heartwarming holiday legend.

So to find the man behind the man in the red suit,

we have to follow a very faint trail.

One that leads to the mainland.

My Christmas wish comes true in the form of a lift

from some local fishermen.

From here, it's a trip along the rugged coast

and through the mountains.

To the historic town of Myra,

home to the haunting cliff cut tombs

from when this was a region known as Lycia.

It was near here that a boy was born

two well off Greek Christian parents,

At that time, being Christian

was a dangerous, even fatal calling

because the religion was forbidden

by law in the Roman Empire.

This ancient city was clearly constructed

at a time of pagan gods

with temples to Artemis

and a soaring Greek theater built to sing

the praises of many deities,

But all that changes

when Constantine becomes emperor in 306

and the Roman Empire embraces Christianity.

Suddenly, in the middle of his life,

a man named Nicholas is free to preach.

To learn how a simple priest became a global phenomenon.

I'm meeting author and Saint Nicholas biographer Jeremy Seal.

Nice to meet you.

[Jeremy] Nice to meet you too.

[Josh] And I take it from walking around here

that this was once a pretty bustling place?

[Jeremy] Yeah, an important place,

connected by its port at Andriaki,

just down the road to all the big cities of the period.

So we're talking about Alexandria to the South,

Jerusalem to the south,

and then north to Rome, Constantinople--

-The North Pole -[Jeremy] And indeed the North Pole.

-We won't forget that. -Absolutely.

Which brings us to Saint Nicholas.

Indeed it does.

You wrote the book on him?

-I did, indeed. -[Josh] Literally.

[Jeremy] Yes, literally.

[Josh] I have a lot of questions.

-And so you should have. Yeah. -[Josh] Yeah.

First of all, I can't find much biographical information

for him from when he was alive.

Nothing at all. To be honest with you.

-[Josh] Yeah. -And the earliest references

that we can rely upon really from a couple of hundred years later.

[Josh] Those accounts suggest that a young Nicholas

lived a quiet life.

Until Christianity is embraced by the Roman Empire.

And it seems like when that happens, his life takes off.

Yeah, I mean, he becomes at a very early age

the bishop here at Myra.

So suddenly he's catapulted to prominence.

[Josh] It is said that he distributes his parents

considerable wealth to the poor and becomes

a zealous advocate for Christianity.

Time passes and an older Nicolas

attends the famed Council of Nicaea

in the year 325,

where bishops come to debate the nature of the Holy Trinity.

When one bishop suggests that Jesus was not equal to God,

Nicholas physically assaults the delegates.

So Nicholas is the person who stands up.

slaps him down, and because of that--

Sorry, literal-- literally slaps?

Literally slaps him. Slaps him around the face.

It is so said.

And because of that, ends up spending some time in prison.

So he's a man who clearly stands for his principles,

he knows what he thinks.

I think we can certainly say that much of him.

Santa means business.

[Jeremy] Indeed he does.

-Right. -[Jeremy] Indeed he does. Yes.

And then we get all of these story...

-Yeah. -...about his miracles.

-[Jeremy] Yeah. -And there are a lot of these stories

Exceptionally so.

One of which actually might connect

to how you celebrate Christmas today.

-Really? Okay. -[Jeremy] Yeah.

The story is called The Three Daughters.

[Josh] The story goes that an impoverished nobleman lacks the dowry with which

to marry off his three daughters.

And in desperation, considers selling them into prostitution.

Until Nicholas miraculously intervenes,

dropping three bags of gold

through the family's open window.

Giving them an anonymous present.

So this worldwide cultural tradition

now of giving gifts on Christmas night...

Yeah.

Comes from this man trying to save three women

from a life of desperation.

Believe it or not, it does.

But hold on to your hat

-because it gets even crazier than that. -Okay.

[Jeremy] In the version that I've told you,

he gives the gifts through the window,

but there is a moment in the 1300s when that changes.

Where Sir Nicholas is not putting

the bags of gold through a window,

but he's actually dropping them down a chimney.

That's it. We just solved Christmas.

-We can go-- We can go back for Christmas now. -We can go home now

Exactly. Yeah

And there are lots of elements like that.

You think about the Christmas story

and in fact, you can trace all of them

to at some point,

as this story kind of develops

-and changes and shifts over the centuries. -Right.

One of the elements, of course, is the idea of stockings.

And I think that goes back to shoes.

[Josh] In some tellings of the story of The Three Daughters,

the gold coins land in one of the girl's shoes

or even in their laundered socks drying by the fire.

Which eventually become stockings hung by the chimney with care.

An incredible story.

This is just one of a huge number of stories

associated with Nicholas,

which take very different approaches to the man.

Right. There are a lot of stories about him that involve miracles.

There are, indeed, you've got stories,

particularly about his role as a protector of sailors.

[Josh] As paganism gave way to Christianity,

the functions of the old gods

were adopted by patron saints.

And Nicolas got one of the sweetest gigs in Christendom.

As the patron saint of those at sea,

with stories of him miraculously saving drowning fishermen.

And that probably helps his story spread even further.

I think so. It's kind of viral

because they go out in the world, of course, and they talk.

Sailors are the ones that initiate this telephone game.

That's what makes them go viral.

-Indeed. Exactly, exactly. -Going all over the world.

-Exactly. -Incredible.

That is why, if you look at the map now,

you will see Saint Nicholas attached to capes, headlands,

ports, churches and churches and ports

all over the Christian world.

That's incredible.

[Josh] Saint Nicholas, though, isn't just remembered

as miraculously protecting fishermen.

His resume is much broader than that.

There's a story that he casts a demon out of a tree, as one does

and that he somehow resurrects three dead boys

who were murdered and pickled in a barrel.

-[Jeremy] He resurrects-- -[Josh] He resurrects these pickled boys?

[Jeremy] These pickled boys who are lying in a barrel.

And hey, here's the thing about the barrel,

the visual representation of the barrel,

comes to the notice of brewers,

who, because of that made Saint Nicholas

the patron Saint of brewing.

[Josh] So because he's supposed to reanimate

three dead pickled boys...

-[Jeremy] From a barrel. -[Josh] ...from a barrel from a barrel...

-[Jeremy] Importantly. Yeah. -...he becomes the patron saint

of beermakers?

Exactly that.

And because he looks after children,

he becomes the patron saint of children.

Who else is he the patron saint of?

Because of the three daughters,

He's the patron saint of unmarried people.

And actually prostitutes.

Not to mention, wrongly imprisoned criminals and perfumers.

-People who make perfume? -[Jeremy] That's it.

-Sure. -[Jeremy] Yeah.

[Josh] This is what makes him unique.

He's like a saint for all seasons.

[Jeremy] Exactly.

He's like a blotting paper, and all these ideas basically bleed into it.

Amazing. So how do we unravel the mysteries of who he really was

and where he physically ended up?

Well, it's kind of like any good police case.

And as in any good police case,

you've got to start with the body.

Okay. Where's the body?

Come with me.

[Josh] Jeremy leads me beyond the ruins

to a palatial house of worship.

Wow.

What a stunning space.

This is amazing.

Welcome to the Church of Saint Nicholas in Myra, Josh.

It's a very, very important place,

very important in the Christian story.

Very important in Saint Nicholas story.

When does all of this date from?

Well, Saint Nicholas dies in about 340 AD.

-Okay. -[Jeremy] He's born in 270,

so we take him to be about 70 years old

and we assume that there would have been a church here.

Uh, for which he was the bishop.

-So he would have been ministering here. -[Jeremy] Indeed.

[Josh] After his death, the church becomes a shrine.

Today everywhere you look, there's iconography.

Including frescoes depicting Nick's divine interventions

And according to historic sources,

Nick was buried inside the church.

Making this building an important pilgrimage site.

And all of this grand architecture

that gets built up over time.

It's not just because Saint Nicholas

was a bishop here, right?

-[Jeremy] No, it's because he was buried here. -Right.

So now what should be a simple follow up question?

Where is he?

So there have been recent excavations right here.

And while they did get down to earlier levels of the church

and they found some beautiful mosaics,

for example, they did not find a crypt.

So if he wasn't buried right here,

where was he buried?

-Well, let me show you where the pilgrims go. -[Josh] Sure.

Let's follow the pilgrims, please.

So here we are, Josh, the popularly

accepted sarcophagus of Saint Nicholas.

[Josh] Okay. And we do have this

really a grand, ornate marble sarcophagus here--

From the right period.

-From the right period? -[Jeremy] Yeah.

Okay. Now I can't help but notice one glaring problem.

It does appear to be slightly broken into.

Yeah, the front is missing, so it's worth saying,

that even though Saint Nicholas

was buried somewhere in this church.

He's not here now, and that is because

the bones of Saint Nicholas were stolen.

I'm sorry.

Santa's bones are missing.

They are indeed missing.

Santa's bones are missing?

They are indeed missing.

[Josh] I'm with historian Jeremy Seal

in the ancient ruins of Myra in modern day Turkey.

We're learning about the true story of Saint Nicholas.

The historical bishop who inspired

the legendary Santa Claus

here in the church that was once his tomb.

There's only one thing missing.

The remains of Saint Nicholas himself.

They were taken by a group of sailors

from the city of Bari in Italy.

Okay.

The Italians, like all Christian sailors,

were fond of their patron saint,

and decided to steal him.

It's not exactly Danny Ocean at the Bellagio, either.

They smash open the tomb and take the remains.

One sailor named Mateo even jumps into the crypt.

Crushing a few of the smaller bones under his feet.

The rest sailed triumphantly

with the [clears throat] skeleton crew, back to Bari.

[Jeremy] The account is very well attested

by a well respected scribe called Nicephorus.

Who writes in great detail about what happened.

He describes it as a great triumph for the sailors.

Why? Why do this?

There's probably a few reasons.

The main one, of course, is that relics.

in this period are very highly regarded.

[Josh] The word "relic" this case means

pieces of actual human remains.

In the time of the Crusades,

the relics of a Catholic Saint,

would be a major draw for pilgrims and other tourists.

We have Santa's village.

They had Santa's bones.

So if this all did happen, is this our sarcophagus?

Is this the one that the sailors from Bari broke into?

It's tempting to think that

but I don't think so. Have a look at it.

The first thing you notice on the top

is that there are two now beheaded figures

which suggest it must have been the sarcophagus of a couple.

-So, Mrs. Claus? -[Jeremy chuckles] Yeah, very good.

Very good.

The thing is that actually Saint Nicholas

was famously celibate and single.

Sure. Of course.

The second one, is that the accounts describe

the sailors breaking in from the top.

It's a vault, based in the floor,

and this clearly isn't that the breaking in is from the side.

So if he wasn't buried in front of the altar

and he's not buried here, where was he buried?

Come with me.

[Josh] It seems that Santa has been down more

graves than chimneys.

Jeremy thinks there's another location

in Nicholas Church that befits the saint.

This is the last possible contender

as the burial place for Saint Nicholas.

You see the slab below us.

There's some Greek here.

You're seeing it. You're seeing Greek.

You're seeing Greek of the period.

And while it's a little bit broken up,

so it's hard to read exactly what it says.

The word grace is clear, which suggests to us

it could be the embodiment of grace

-or the place of grace. -[Josh] Right.

Some suggestion that this was, at the very least, the resting place

of an important and significant figure.

[Josh] But if Nick was here, he's not now.

Scans of the floor in this section,

have not revealed his crypt.

Okay, I'm quickly l earning that the search

for Saint Nicholas is not straightforward.

It's going to be full of dead ends.

It's going to be full of contradictions.

There are some who believe that he never left the church

that he's still here, which suggests that

the Italians took the wrong bones.

What do you think?

-I think the Italian's got the right bones. -[Josh] You do?

The accounts, they are very detailed,

and that persuades me.

But if you want to prove it,

-you're gonna have to go elsewhere -Elsewhere?

Like to Italy?

Like to Italy. That would be my best suggestion.

Thank you, sir.

-I really appreciate it, Jeremy. All the best -Pleasure.

[Josh] Jeremy has given me exactly what I wanted this Christmas.

A mystery.

Did Italian sailors truly take the bones of Saint Nicholas?

And what might they tell us about the mortal who became a legend?

To find out, I follow the path of Saint Nicholas

stolen remains 780 mile s as Santa's sleigh

flies to the coastal Italian city of Bari.

Where I arrive under cover of darkness,

Well, it is well before dawn here in the historic city of Bari.

But even in the dark, this place makes an impression.

Between the massive city walls.

And the imposing fortifications.

It's clear this has always been a place worth defending.

Bari is and has been for centuries

a crucial Italian port on the Adriatic Sea.

But since the alleged bones of Saint Nicholas

arrived here in 1087,

It's also been a holy city.

And as I make my way down into the old town,

it's clear I'm not the only pilgrim here.

A little crowded.

Turns out Saint Nicholas, very popular here.

Once the people of Bari reportedly got their hands

on the saint's remains, the city set about erecting

a building worthy of housing them.

One hundred years later, in 1197

they finished this, the stunning

Basilica of Saint Nicholas.

It may seem a little early to go to church, but this morning

it's the most popular place in town.

You know, when we think about celebrating Old Saint Nick?

We think, of course, December 25.

But here in the city of Bari, it is today.

The early morning of December 6, that really matters.

This is the feast of Saint Nicholas

when thousands of people cram into this square

to commemorate Nicholas's death

nearly 1700 years ago.

Even at this early hour, it's a party

with plenty of chances

to grab a Saint Nick Selfie.

Thank you, Saint Nick.

Grazie.

You can even say hi to his more modern incarnation.

There he is, Santa Claus.

Everybody, I found him.

Not just Saint Nick, Santa Claus.

And because it's Italy, there's food.

And that food is good.

Well, that's that.

The best hot chocolate

that I've ever had in my entire life.

And the best donuts.

I'm never leaving this town.

There's even a Christmas tree lighting

that's verging on a Vegas style light show.

Christmas trees aren't directly tied

to the historical Saint Nick,

putting greenery inside dates

all the way back to ancient Egypt.

And later by various cultures to celebrate the solstice.

But you can thank the Germans

for putting entire trees indoors.

They set up paradise trees around Christmas time.

Meant to evoke the Garden of Eden.

The practice spread throughout Europe, and the world.

Most intense tree lighting ceremony ever.

[crowd cheering]

[whoops]

Merry Christmas.

Once the tree is lit and dawn approaches,

the basilica doors open and the mood turns reverent.

More than a thousand people

file inside for a special mass.

Honoring the saint who became Santa.

[priest reading]

[Josh] Mass concludes

and the parishioners file out

with the church's statue of Saint Nicholas in tow.

From here it will be paraded through

the streets of Bari for all to see.

I, however, stay behind as the sun rises,

to meet the current steward

of Saint Nicholas Church and possibly his bones.

Father Giovanni Distante.

Father, Distant.

Buongiorno.

Buongiorno. Very nice to meet you.

The morning mass was beautiful.

[in Italian]

[in English] Fantastic.

A pilgrimage of love of the whole city

of Bari towards its patron saint.

Yes, I have many questions about Saint Nicholas.

[in Italian] Let me show you the place that will answer them.

Please.

Father Distante is giving us access

to the lower level of the church.

The subterranean crypt below the altar.

[Father Distante in English] This is the tomb of Saint Nicholas.

[Josh] So this is the actual tomb.

[Father Distante] This is where his bones have laid

since sailors brought him to Bari.

[Josh] Wow!

This tomb has been here for almost

a thousand years with great respect.

Are we certain that these are the bones of Saint Nicholas?

[Father Distante] Absolutely.

The bones were placed in this tomb in 1089,

shortly after they arrived in Bari.

They've been here ever since.

And then, of course, there's the holy manna to consider.

I've heard of this manna. Tell me about this.

This is a a liquid that is produced by the bones?

[Father Distante] Correct.

It exudes from the bones of the saint.

[Josh] Manna originally referred to the edible,

resinous substance

with which God sustained the Israelites

during their 40 years wandering in the Sinai desert.

In more modern times, though, manna refers to a substance

with a divine origin or purpose.

Like a liquid that exudes from the bones of a saint.

[Father Distante] We extract the manna periodically,

and mix a few drops with blessed water

to share Nicholas's blessings with the world.

This is for me.

Aw. That's very, very nice of you. Thank you.

So some manna of my own.

Now will it make me younger?

[Father Distante] It's a question of faith

and faith can move mountains.

One thing about the manna that is special

is that it's pure fresh water.

We're able to extract it from this hole

that goes down into the crypt.

That's where the manna is extracted from.

Does this opening look down into the tomb?

[Father Distante] Yes. Would you like to take a look?

[Josh] What happens next takes my breath away.

We are being given access to peer beneath the crypts, altar.

And to look down into the tomb of Saint Nicholas himself.

[whispers] Okay, let's see what we can see.

This is incredible.

You can actually see way down into the tomb,

Oh, and there is a bone down there.

You can see a bone in the liquid.

There is a bone there.

Oh my word.

In Bari Italy's Basilica of Saint Nicholas.

I'm talking to Father Giovanni Distante

who has granted me an exceedingly rare privilege

with my own eyes.

I am gazing upon what may be the bones of the saint

who would become Santa Claus.

In the nearly 1000 years this has been here.

Has it been opened ever?

The church was undergoing preservation work in 1953

and for a time we opened the crypt.

And then a few years ago,

a doctor was able to examine the remains

from outside the crypt with a special camera.

I can arrange for you to speak with him.

[Josh] Thank you very much.

I really appreciate it. This was really, really special.

While physical access to the supposed Saint Nick is impossible.

Fortunately, one man has had the opportunity

to see the remains up close and personal.

Bari's chief medical examiner, Professor Francesco Introna.

I have read that you might know more about these bones

than anybody else alive today.

Yes, that's true.

I have seen them.

-You have seen them? -[Francesco] Yes.

We had the opportunity to look into the crypt.

We sent the camera inside

Like a snake camera, inside.

A snake camera that we use in medicine.

Wow. What did you see?

I can show you if you like.

-You can show me? -Yes, absolutely.

Oh, this is awesome.

We are getting a once in a millennium view.

Inside the purported tomb of Saint Nick.

I follow the camera's image

as it snakes down the narrow hole.

And into the crypt itself.

Are these all bones?

[Francesco] Yeah, these are all bones.

And what you see that is shining is the manna.

-[Josh] That's the liquid, right? -[Francesco] Yes.

[Josh] Oh, and then is that a rib bone?

A rib. This is ribs. This is a vegetable.

-Part of vertebrae. -[Josh] Wow!

Incredible.

I cannot believe how many remains are in here.

[Francesco] And now you can see the major part

of the skeleton that is the skull.

Oh, my God.

The entire skull is there.

[Francesco] The entire skull is there

The man that would become the inspiration

-for the story of Santa Claus. -[Francesco] Absolutely.

We are looking at his skull.

-Absolutely. -How is it possible?

That skeletal remains

that are 1700 years old

that are sitting in liquid

are not completely dissolved.

It's impossible to explain,

I think it's a miracle.

-[Josh] A miracle? -Yes.

You're not supposed to talk like that.

You're a scientist.

I am a scientist.

But I believe in Saint Nicholas.

-There you go. -[chuckles]

[Josh] And Saint Nick, the miracle man appears to have struck again

with bones sitting in liquid

that have defied decomposition.

This video is the last time anyone saw the bones,

but not the only time.

They were physically examined once

in the 1950s.

During construction work on the building.

1953 they come out of the crypt,

and a report is commissioned on them. Correct?

[Francesco] Yes. This is a report of Professor Luigi Martino

[Josh] Wow!

So let's talk about the conclusions from his study here.

What does he say about this individual?

What does he learn from the examination of these bones?

We learned several important things.

First, all the skeletons and all the bones

that are in Bari belongs to just one man.

-That's huge. -[Francesco] That's huge.

Okay check.

Second thing that we have learned

is that we know that this

this-- uh, this man died when he was 75

80-years-old.

Okay, that's a big check,

because this generally aligns with

-the age of Saint Nicholas. -[Francesco] Yes.

[Josh] So that information checks off some big boxes.

Are you convinced

that these are the remains of Saint Nicholas?

I swear.

[chuckles]

You're 100% convinced.

[chuckles] Yes.

When you put all of these bones together,

how much of the skeleton is accounted for?

Around 80%.

[Josh] The report by doctor Luigi Martino

described each and every identifiable bone.

Most of the skeleton is here,

but a few critical pieces are missing.

Among them, the left pubic bone,

his right ribcage and left jawbone.

Where do you think the other 20% could reliably be?

Venice, for example.

-Venice? -[Francesco] Venice.

[Josh] In the year 1100, another expedition of sailors

raided the original tomb of Saint Nick in Myra, Turkey,

this time from Venice.

And while the sailors from Bari

had taken most of the bones.

What was left, it is said, was grabbed by the Venetians

and taken back to be venerated.

So it's possible that

Saint Nicholas is also in Venice,

Could be.

[Josh] If the bones in Venice complete

the missing 20% of the skeleton in Bari,

it would all but prove that both groups of sailors did in fact,

steal parts from the same skeleton in Myra

and that it may well be the real Saint Nick.

So I bid arrivederci to Doctor Introna.

And fly 450 miles north

to a place that's literally swimming in history.

Welcome to the floating city.

For a millennium, this was the seat

of one of the world's great maritime powers,

a nexus of trade, art, architecture,

and powerful religious forces

that gave rise to one seriously beautiful place.

In a world that looks increasingly the same,

there truly is no place like Venice.

Over a hundred islands clustered in a lagoon,

that occasionally rises higher than anyone is comfortable with.

There are no cars here.

The only streets are these canals,

which are the city's lifeblood.

Venice is not a charming mix of the old and the new

It is old and it is magnificent.

Like Bari, Venice is a city of sailors.

Saint Nicholas Primary Fan Club.

Also like Bari, when the sailors

reportedly brought back some of Saint Nick's remains,

they needed a place to put them,

which was right here.

But not so fast.

All right. Well behind me is the Church of San Nicolo al Lido.

But unlike the basilica in Bari,

where I could get within inches of their bones,

access here is much more restricted.

So much so that I am actually not allowed

to appear on camera inside.

But I have received a blessing from on high

to send a camera in.

So let's see what they've got.

[Evan] Okay. I'm rolling. Here we go.

[Josh] My director of photography, Evan B. Stone,

passes through the main doors into the church's interior

for rare filming access.

at the end of the marble lined apps,

his camera spies a high altar

containing a sarcophagus.

That reportedly holds the rest of Saint Nicholas remains.

A plaque attests to the claim,

and historical sources tell us

that a Venetian expedition did, in fact, sail to Myra.

Unfortunately for them, the Venetians got to Turkey

13 years behind their rivals from Bari.

According to legend, the Venetians hold the monks

guarding the rest of the remains at knife point,

swipe the bones and hightail it back here to Venice.

But did it really happen?

Did they get the remaining bones of Saint Nick?

The answer to those questions is waiting for me

outside the church, down one of the dark,

winding canals of Venice

At the Libreria of Aqua Alta.

That's where I'm meeting. Historian Alessandro Trabucco.

Alessandro.

-Hey I'm Josh. -Hello. Nice to meet you, Josh.

Great to meet you. Wow. This place is incredible.

Man, this is so beautiful.

This is called High Tide Library.

And this is a famous bookshop.

Here we have in Venice.

[Josh] It's no secret that Venice has a flooding problem.

The lagoon, too, routinely rises far above street level.

Aqua Alta has come up with a novel solution.

Putting their merchandise in bathtubs.

And even a gondola to protect the books.

when the tide gets extra high.

So we've got a lot of history around us here.

Let's talk about some history.

I'm here investigating this idea

that the bones of Saint Nicholas

may be here in Venice.

So let's start with this.

How did the get here, supposedly?

So supposedly, they were taken by the Venetians.

They arrived there in Myra, in Turkey

in the year 1100.

So that's a great story.

The question is, How do we know that it's true?

Since the year 1100 or so

have these bones been studied scientifically?

Only once. In 1992, they were removed,

and they were studied by Dr. Luigi Martino.

The same guy who studied the bones in Bari in the 50's?

[Alessandro] Yeah. Yeah, yeah, sure. The same guy.

And so what did Martino find?

I show you.

[Josh] This is Martino's report?

-[Alessandro] This is. -Wow. Look at this.

This is what he finds?

[Alessandro] Yes. These are the fragments.

[Josh] So this is not at all what I was expecting.

These are like tiny, tiny pieces.

[Alessandro] Like a puzzle pieces.

[Josh] Like puzzle pieces.

Unlike the large specimens in the Bari crypt,

the bones in Venice are quite small.

In theory, this makes sense.

After all, these would merely be the leftover fragments

from a crypt already broken into

and trampled on by the sailors from Bari.

So now the million dollar question.

Does the study reveal whether the bone fragments here

in Venice complement the remains in Bari?

Meaning do they go together?

Yes, they do.

-[Josh] They do? -They do.

[Josh] Dr. Martino was able to piece together

the fragmented remains here in Venice.

When looked at against the bones

that were studied in the crypt in Bari

something incredible becomes immediately clear.

They fit together, almost completing the skeleton.

I mean, this is huge because it means

that these are parts of the same individual.

And if sailors from Venice and sailors from Bari

grabbed parts of the same individual

from this tomb in Turkey.

It's very likely that it's Saint Nicholas.

I mean, it really, probably is him.

[in English]

-He's here. -[Alessandro] He's here.

-And in Bari. -And in Bari.

And also in the States.

-Also in the States? -Yes!

Okay.

A part of Saint Nicholas could be in America.

Yes.

How?

[in English]

Okay. That would be incredible.

This is a twist many churches around

the world claim to have holy relics.

But the idea that a piece of Saint Nick

ended up in America,

seems farfetched, even for Santa.

Still no stone or bone unturned.

Having revealed that Saint Nick

is almost certainly split between Bari and Venice.

Is there really a chance that a piece of him

ended up in Chicago?

Here in the windy city, the temperature is brisk

and Christmas is in the air.

In a way, it's appropriate that my search

for Saint Nicholas should lead here.

Because so much of his evolution into Santa

happened right here in the United States.

And like all things in America,

Santa turns out to be a bit of a melting pot.

Okay, roll the package while I look for my gloves.

[exhales]

Our New World Christmas

borrows quite a few characters from the old.

The Dutch are the ones who give us the name Santa Claus

from their name for Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas.

Elves were common in Norse and German mythology.

Over here, we put them to work as free labor in Santa's toy factory.

Speaking of the Germans,

their belief that the baby Jesus

or Chris Kendall brings gifts.

Gets repurposed as Santa's other alias,

Kris Kringle from England.

Charles Dickens's Ghost of Christmas present

becomes Father Christmas.

A master of ceremonies whenever the season rolls around.

And here in Chicago that season is freezing.

I feel like I'm at the North Pole.

Oh, yeah, the North Pole.

Back in the mid-19th century,

there was a ton of interest

in the ill fated Franklin Expedition

to the Arctic, and because of that,

pop culture decided to give Santa a magical new home

at the North Pole.

Then there's the Rosetta Stone of Christmas,

the 1823 poem,

a visit from Saint Nicholas.

You know, "'twas the night before Christmas" et cetera, et cetera.

Most of the Santa we know and love

is in these 56 lines.

Including the first appearance of his reindeer.

Well, eight of them anyway.

During the Civil War.

artist Thomas Nashe uses Santa

as a union symbol, complete with his iconic red suit.

And early in the 20th century,

illustrator Haddon Sundblom

turned the jolly old elf into a pitchman for Coca Cola,

and the image stuck.

The Midwest even play s a role in the holiday lore when, in 1939,

a copywriter working for the headquarters

of the Montgomery Ward Department store

right behind me, came up with a stroke of marketing genius,

Robert L. May scribbled a now iconic holiday tale

that introduced the world to Santa's Ninth Reindeer.

That's right. Rudolph is from Chicago,

and he will not stop talking about it.

We get it. You like horrible pizza

and hot dogs without ketchup.

Enough already.

Despite the city's high profile,

the purported bone of Saint Nick I've come to see

is not in a historic museum or cathedral.

Instead, I make my way to the suburb of Morton Grove

and the church, known as the Shrine of All Saints.

Here to greet me is the shrine's rector

and chief collector, father Dennis O'Neill.

I'm Josh. Nice to meet you.

Hi Josh. I'm Dennis. Welcome to the shrine of All Saints.

Thank you so much. This is a really remarkable space.

And when we say the shrine of all saints,

I do see a lot of saints here.

Along the wall.

Yes. There are the relics

of over 3100 different saints.

I'm sorry. it sounded like you said, 3100.

Indeed I did.

How? Ha-- ha-- How did this come to be?

I collected them.

You personally collected them?

Yes.

Wow. So this is a lifelong mission.

It has been.

Dennis leads me through the collection.

Look at all of this amazing material.

Thousands of relics that he has saved on behalf of the public.

From every saint you can name.

And likely some you can't.

This is a reliquary that belonged

to a Latin Patriarch of Antioch

It is part of the skull of Saint Barbara,

heel bone of Saint Polycarp.

Uh, and a right finger bone of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

[Josh] Wow.

There's even one from another of the saints

in Nicholas era

-Saint Helena. -And this is a bone of Saint Helena.

I'm sorry, The Saint Helena?

Mother of Constantine.

Mother of the Emperor Constantine.

This is a foot bone from Saint Helena.

[Father O'Neill] That's right.

[Josh] But even with a roster like this,

Saint Nick is still the headliner.

And so here he is, the man himself.

That is Saint Nicholas.

-[Josh] This is meant to be a bone from Saint Nicholas. -Yes.

-Right in front of us. -Yes, indeed.

So now you're gonna have to do some time traveling with me.

-All right. -[Josh] We know that.

Nicholas was a bishop in Myra

-and what's now Turkey. -Yes.

-We know his bones were stolen away. -Yes.

Taken to Bari and taken to Venice.

-It seems. -Yes.

How does one of those bones end up

in Morton Grove, Illinois, of all places?

-That's a very good question. -[Josh chuckles]

-I'll try to provide an answer. -[Josh] Okay.

Father O'Neal explains that he acquired the bone

from church officials,

who in turn got it from a collection in France.

It has been certified as authentic

by the Catholic Church.

And while my instinct is to be skeptical

that a piece of Saint Nick

is here in Chicago,

it turns out that this fragment

is from a left pubic bone and that It is a big deal.

According to Dr. Martino's examinations

that exact bone is missing from the remains in both Venice and and Bari.

So that's a big check

-for this being possible. -Yes.

Has this bone been scientifically studied?

Once.

Once when?

On November 4th of 2016.

And what was done to it?

Well, let me show you.

The gloves, please.

Okay.

Father O'Neal gently removes the bone from its reliquary.

If you can see on the top there

a hole has been drilled.

[Josh] Yes, first of all, I can't believe I'm holding this.

But this was drilled into in 2016.

-[Father O'Neill] It was. -But were they able to do any DNA testing on it

to actually determine the individual?

Not yet.

When you say "Not yet", does that mean it's being done?

It's about to be done.

-[Josh] It is? -Yes

So this could settle the question on Saint Nick.

That's right.

-One little bone. -One little bone.

Well, let's test it.

Let's do that.

[Josh] To get the DNA tested Father Dennis and I

head back into the city to the University of Chicago,

where we meet scientists Dr. Georges Kazan

and Professor Tom Higham from the University of Vienna

So what's the-- what's the-- protocol here?

What we're going to do now is genetic testing.

-[Josh] Right. -This is going to help us validate further

whether or not this could be Saint Nicholas.

The last few years have seen big explosion.

The science of ancient DNA

It just depends on how much DNA evidence we can extract

as to how much we'll be able to put a flesh

onto the bones of this interesting person.

-So we have our bone here. -[Father O'Neill] Yes.

-You will need a physical sample from this, right? -[Dr. Higham] Yes.

We do need some physical material

to actually extract and amplify the got it.

Got it. All right.

-Father you ready for this? -Absolutely. Yeah.

-Let's see what you can do. -[Dr. Higham] Thanks, Father Dennis.

-That's brilliant. -Let's go down to the lab

Here we go. Please.

[Josh] I hope cutting into Santa's bones won't reflect on me

for this year's naughty or nice list,

because I may be about to end up with a truckload of coal.

[Josh] Saint Nicholas is famous for performing many miracles,

from saving sailors at sea to protecting children,

to casting demons out of trees.

It seems there was nothing he couldn't do.

And some say those miracles continue to this day

through healing manna,

the mysterious holy liquid,

that is said to exude from his bones

Since the 4th century.

and people flock to Bari

from all over the world to get a venerated vial.

So here's to Saint Nick.

May his spirit cure whatever ails you.

You're not suppose to drink it.

Wasn't aware of that.

-Okay, Josh. -Great.

Come in here.

So we're going to be going into

-a clean lab to do this work, -Okay.

In an attempt to determine if a bone from a suburban Chicago church

belongs to Saint Nicholas himself,

Professor Tom Higham and I

are about to collect a sample.

Since it's critical, we don't contaminate it.

We need to take some serious precautions.

We don sterile gloves, masks, hairnets and booties.

We even sterilize the gloves.

Before putting on what's known hilariously

as a bunny suit.

All right, We got it. I just need to pee before we start.

-Is that a problem? -[Dr. Higham laughs]

Oh!

[Josh] Finally, we're ready to enter the clean room.

Meanwhile, Father Dennis and Georges will observe from outside the airlock.

Hello, Father Dennis.

Georges, how are you?

[Georges] Good to see you both.

[Dr. Higham] This is the ultra clean room.

We're right in the middle of the lab now.

-[Josh] Okay. -[Dr. Higham] Safe enough

so that we can open the box

-and have a look inside. -[Josh] Okay, let's check it out.

-I have to say, just being in the presence of this... -[Dr. Higham] Yeah.

[Josh] ...there is this-- this kind of thrill

that we could actually be holding.

the remains of Saint Nicholas.

[Dr. Higham] I know. it's cool. That's amazing.

-[Josh] It really is. I mean, it's kind of surreal. -[Dr. Higham chuckles]

It totally is. I agree.

-[Josh] Okay, so? -[Dr. Higham] Yeah.

[Josh] Should we try to extract Santa's DNA?

-[Dr. Higham] Let's do it. -[Josh chuckles] Let's do it.

Tom carefully cuts into the bone,

of which we're aiming to take 200 mg

finding usable DNA in a sample

this old is a long shot,

but we're hoping for a holiday miracle.

[Dr. Higham] All right. Now let's see if I can just pop that official.

[Josh] Boom. Look at that perfect.

Look at that. Absolutely perfect. Nice job.

Hopefully that will be enough.

[Dr. Higham] Let's weigh it and see.

And then it'll be close.

Yeah, man 208. Perfect.

[Josh] 208. Yeah.

[Dr. Higham] Exactly what we wanted.

-[Josh] So enough material for you to work with. -It should be yeah.

-[Josh] And now the hard work begins. -[Dr. Higham] Indeed.

[Josh] So where is this sample bound for?

[Dr. Higham] This sample is going back to Austria

to the University of Vienna.

-Where ancient DNA lab is. -[Josh] Okay.

[Josh] Well, I'll be waiting by the phone.

[Dr. Higham] Can't wait to share it with you.

[Josh] All the best, man. This is incredible.

[Dr. Higham] Thanks.

[Josh] The sequencing will take up to six weeks to complete,

so I return to my headquarters for a long winter's nap.

Sure enough, six weeks later, my inbox pings

and I received the news from the laboratory.

The DNA in Father Dennis Relic

is too old and damaged to be conclusive.

However, Tom and Georges were able to determine

that this pubic bone belonged to a man

who died in about 340 AD.

in other words, right around when Saint Nicholas

is believed to have gone to that great toy factory in the sky.

It is astronomically unlikely that this bone comes

from the correct time period

and also perfectly completes

a missing part of the Venice and Bari skeleton.

That is, unless Father Dennis Relic

is, in fact, authentic.

Like Santa Claus.

I've flown a lot of miles, and on my holiday mission,

I've discovered the man behind the mythology.

A remarkable bishop whose life inspired

traditions that endure today.

And though Christmas is a season of miracles,

the deeds of the historical Nick

are indelibly, unmistakably human.

A reminder that we should all protect care for and give to one another.

We've learned that his bones were likely stolen,

and we can say with strong certainty

that they reside in two Italian cities.

And now, we can add Chicago to the list.

Getting to know the real Saint Nicholas has been an honor

that I'll carry with me for a lifetime.

One that I'll remember

each time I say,

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.