Patronal Feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

Transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas to Bari. In 1087, noble and Venetian merchants went to Antioch, intending to stop at Myra Lycian on the way back to pick up the relics of St. Nicholas to increase the prestige of their city and stimulate trade[5]. The Barians were ahead of the Venetians and were the first to land in Myra. Forty-seven Barians, armed, went to the temple of St. Nicholas[1]. There they tied up the monks guarding the shrine, broke the church platform under which the tomb stood, and removed most of the relics of the Saint from the sarcophagus, hastily leaving about 20% of the relics in the sarcophagus, which were later taken by the Venetians. 

On May 8, the ships arrived in Bari. The next day, May 9, the relics of St. Nicholas were solemnly transferred to the Church of St. Stephen, located not far from the…