Overnight Evolution of St. Nicholas in Myra

Overnight Evolution of St. Nicholas in Myra

This is an image taken of the bronze statue given by the city of Moscow to the city of Demre (formerly Myra) in 2000. It was well received and given a prominent place in the main city square before the church of St. Nicholas. However, in 2005, Demre's mayor and the city council decided that they needed to get rid of the statue and replace it with something more "recognizable" worldwide...here is what they came up with, in ALL ITS PLASTIC GLORY.

The Russian statue was relegated to a small space inside the church yard and was additionally demoted off the top of the Earth, perhaps in answer to protests from the overwhelming Muslim majority there? Who knows.

Sad to see. An icon of modern life I suppose and if I'm honest, it's often an icon of my life too.

Comments

Liz in Seattle said…
Umm, maybe he's ringing a Salvation Army bell to collect alms for the poor? Maybe?

Sigh.
12:21 PM
Anonymous said…
That is horrifying! I doubt that the change has much to do with Muhammadan antipathy towards Christians (since they dislike Americans more than Christians, and "Santa" has come to mean the American view of old St. Nick to the non-Western world over the last century). More likely, the Turks have simply found that Western tourists recognize the happy man in red more than the venerable archetype of the modern image. We do not teach our children about Saint Nicholas, but we do take them to sit on Santa's lap.

Joseph
7:56 AM
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