Editing Saint Nicholas (section)

== Relics ==

=== Gemile ===
[[File:Gemiler Adası kalıntıları.jpg|thumb|Ruins of the fourth-century church on the island of [[Gemiler Island|Gemile]], where some scholars believe Saint Nicholas was originally entombed{{sfn|Keys|1993}}]]

It has long been traditionally assumed that Saint Nicholas was originally buried in his home town of Myra, where his relics are later known to have been kept,{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}}{{sfn|Keys|1993}} but some recent archaeological evidence indicates that Saint Nicholas may have originally been entombed in a rock-cut church located at the highest point on the small Turkish island of [[Gemiler Island|Gemile]], only twenty miles away from his birthplace of Patara. Nicholas's name is painted on part of the ruined building. In antiquity, the island was known as "Saint Nicholas Island"{{sfn|Keys|1993}} and today it is known in Turkish as Gemiler Adasi, meaning "Island of Boats", in reference to Saint Nicholas's traditional role as the patron saint of seafarers.{{sfn|Keys|1993}}

The church was built in the fourth century, around the time of Nicholas's death,{{sfn|Keys|1993}} and is typical of saints' shrines from that time period. Nicholas was the only major saint associated with that part of Turkey. The church where historians believe he was originally entombed is at the western end of the great processional way.{{sfn|Keys|1993}}

=== Myra ===
[[File:Grab Nikolaus.jpg|thumb|left|Desecrated sarcophagus in the [[St. Nicholas Church, Demre]], where Saint Nicholas's bones were kept until 1087.{{Sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}]]
In the mid-7th century, Gemile was vulnerable to attack by Arab fleets, so Nicholas's remains appear to have been [[translation (relic)|moved]] from the island to the city of Myra, where Nicholas had served as bishop for most of his life. Myra is located roughly {{convert|40|km|abbr=on}} east of Gemile and its location further inland made it safer from seafaring Arab forces.{{sfn|Keys|1993}}

It is said that, in Myra, the relics of Saint Nicholas each year exuded a clear watery liquid which smelled like rose water, called [[manna]], or [[myrrh]], which was believed by the faithful to possess [[miracle|miraculous]] powers.<ref>De Ceglia, Francesco Paolo: "The science of Santa Claus : discussions on the Manna of Nicholas of Myra in the modern age". In ''Nuncius'' – 27 (2012) 2, pp. 241–269.</ref> As it was widely known that all Nicholas's relics were at Myra in their sealed sarcophagus, it was rare during this period for forgers of relics to claim to possess those belonging to Saint Nicholas.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=135–136}}

A solemn bronze statue of the saint by Russian sculptor Gregory Pototsky was donated by the [[Government of Russia|Russian government]] in 2000, and was given a prominent place in the square fronting the medieval Church of St Nicholas. In 2005, mayor Süleyman Topçu had the statue replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted an image more recognisable to foreign visitors. Protests from the Russian government against this were successful, and the bronze statue was returned (albeit without its original high pedestal) to a corner nearer the church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Saint Nicholas|url=http://www.cantius.org/go/liturgy_devotions/liturgical_seasons/advent_extraordinary/saint_nicholas/|website=St. John Cantius Parish|access-date=25 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916164452/http://www.cantius.org/go/liturgy_devotions/liturgical_seasons/advent_extraordinary/saint_nicholas/|archive-date=16 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 28 December 2009, the Turkish government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of Saint Nicholas's skeletal remains to Turkey from the Italian government.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8432314.stm | work=BBC News | title=Turks want Santa's bones returned | date=28 December 2009 | access-date=23 May 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122023333/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8432314.stm | archive-date=22 January 2010 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-196814-100-santa-clauss-bones-must-be-brought-back-to-turkey-from-italy.html |title=Santa Claus's bones must be brought back to Turkey from Italy |website=Todayszaman.com |date=28 December 2009 |access-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211141253/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-196814-100-santa-clauss-bones-must-be-brought-back-to-turkey-from-italy.html |archive-date=11 December 2013  }}</ref>
Turkish authorities asserted that Nicholas himself desired to be buried at his episcopal town, and that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland. In 2017, an archaeological survey at St. Nicholas Church, Demre was reported to have found a temple below the modern church, with excavation work to be done that will allow researchers to determine whether it still holds Nicholas's body.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/tomb-of-st-nicholas-may-have-been-discovered-in-turkey-1.3244068 |title=Tomb of St Nicholas may have been discovered in Turkey |publisher=ir.ishtimes.com |date=4 October 2017 |access-date=7 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008081435/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/tomb-of-st-nicholas-may-have-been-discovered-in-turkey-1.3244068 |archive-date=8 October 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> A sarcophagus possibly holding his remains was found there in 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.foxnews.com/travel/santa-claus-sarcophagus-believe-discovered-during-excavation-project | title='Santa Claus' sarcophagus believed to be discovered during excavation project | website=[[Fox News]] | date=12 December 2024 }}</ref>

=== Bari ===
[[File:St. Nicholas Bari.jpg|thumb|[[Basilica di San Nicola]] in [[Bari]], Italy where most of the [[relics]] of Saint Nicholas are kept today{{sfn|Cullen|2017}}]]
After the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071, the Byzantine Empire temporarily lost control over most of Asia Minor to the invading [[Seljuk Turks]], and so [[Byzantine Greeks|Greek Christians]] of Myra became subjects of the Turks.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=101}} At the same time the Catholic Church in the West had declared (in 1054 AD) that the [[Greek Orthodox|Greek church]], the official church of the Byzantine Empire, was in [[East-West Schism|schism]]. Because of the many wars in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}

Taking advantage of the confusion and the loss by the Greek Christian community of Myra of its Byzantine imperial protection, in the spring of 1087, Italian sailors from Bari in [[Apulia]] seized part of the remains of the saint from his burial church in Myra, over the objections of the Greek Orthodox [[monasticism|monks]] in the church.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| first= Michael | last= Ott| title= Nicholas of Myra| encyclopedia= [[The Catholic Encyclopedia]]| volume= 11| location= New York| publisher= Robert Appleton Company| year= 1907}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last= Butler| first= Albin| title= Lives of the Saints | volume= 2| year= 1860}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last1= Wheeler | last2= Rosenthal| chapter= Chapter 1| title= St. Nicholas: A Closer Look at Christmas| first1= Joe L. | first2= Jim | publisher= Thomas Nelson| year= 2005| isbn= 9781418504076}}</ref>

Adam C. English describes the removal of the relics from Myra as "essentially a [[furta sacra|holy robbery]]" and notes the thieves were not only afraid of being caught or chased after by the locals, but also the power of Saint Nicholas himself.{{sfn|Medrano|2017}} Returning to Bari, they brought the remains with them and cared for them. The remains arrived on 9 May 1087.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} Two years later, [[Pope Urban II]] inaugurated a new church, the Basilica di San Nicola, to Saint Nicholas in Bari. The Pope himself personally placed Nicholas's relics into the tomb beneath the altar of the new church.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} The removal of Saint Nicholas's relics from Myra and their arrival in Bari is reliably recorded by multiple chroniclers, including [[Orderic Vitalis]]{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=131}}{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} and 9 May continued to be celebrated every year by western Christians as the day of Nicholas's "translation".{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} Eastern Orthodox Christians and the Turks have both long regarded the unauthorized removal of the relics from Myra as a blatant theft,{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=93–94}} but the people of Bari have instead maintained that it was a rescue mission to save the bones from the Turkish invaders.{{sfn|Jones|1978|pages=176–193}}{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=100–102}} A legend, shown on the ceiling of the Basilica di San Nicola, holds that Nicholas once visited Bari and predicted that his bones would one day rest there.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=93–94}}
[[File:Statue of Nicholas of Bari.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Nicholas in [[Bari]].]]
Prior to the translation of Nicholas's relics to Bari, his following had been known in western Europe, but it had not been extremely popular.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}} In autumn of 1096, [[Normans|Norman]] and [[Franks|Frankish]] soldiers mustered in Bari in preparation for the [[First Crusade]]. Although the Crusaders generally favored warrior saints, which Saint Nicholas was not, the presence of his relics in Bari made him materially accessible.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=114–115}} Nicholas's associations with aiding travelers and seafarers also made him a popular choice for veneration. Nicholas's veneration by Crusaders helped promote his following throughout western Europe.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=114–116}}

After the relics were brought to Bari, they continued to produce "myrrh", much to the joy of their new owners. Vials of myrrh from his relics have been taken all over the world for centuries, and can still be obtained from his church in Bari. Even up to the present day, a flask of manna is extracted from the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year on 6 December (the Saint's [[feast day]]) by the clergy of the basilica. The myrrh is collected from a sarcophagus which is located in the basilica vault and could be obtained in the shop nearby. The liquid gradually seeps out of the tomb, but it is unclear whether it originates from the body within the tomb, or from the marble itself; since the town of Bari is a harbour, and the tomb is below [[sea level]], there have been several natural explanations proposed for the manna fluid, including the transfer of [[seawater]] to the tomb by [[capillary action]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In 1966, a vault in the crypt underneath the Basilica di San Nicola was dedicated as an Orthodox chapel with an [[iconostasis]] in commemoration of the [[Catholic–Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965|recent lifting of the anathemas]] the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches had issued against each other during the [[East–West Schism|Great Schism]] in 1054.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=117}}

In May 2017, following talks between [[Pope Francis]] and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a portion of the relics of Saint Nicholas in Bari were sent on loan to Moscow. The relic was on display for veneration at Christ the Savior Cathedral before being taken to Saint Petersburg in mid-June prior to returning to Bari.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/05/21/major_relics_of_st_nicholas_visit_russia/1313807 |title="Major relics of St Nicholas visit Russia", Vatican Radio, May 21, 2017 |access-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206152131/http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/05/21/major_relics_of_st_nicholas_visit_russia/1313807 |archive-date=6 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> More than a million people lined up in Moscow for a momentary glimpse of the gilded ark holding one of the saint's ribs.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/why-more-than-a-million-russians-have-lined-up-tosee-one-of-theribs-of-saint-nicholas/2017/06/28/02aae204-5696-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html |title=Filipov, David. "Why more than a million Russians have lined up to see a piece of the rib of Saint Nicholas", ''The Washington Post'', June 29, 2017 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=6 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211160555/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/why-more-than-a-million-russians-have-lined-up-tosee-one-of-theribs-of-saint-nicholas/2017/06/28/02aae204-5696-11e7-840b-512026319da7_story.html |archive-date=11 December 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Venice ===
[[File:San Nicolò (Venice).jpg|thumb|The church of [[San Nicolò al Lido]] in Venice, which claims to hold roughly 500 bone fragments from Nicholas's skeleton{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}}]]

The sailors from Bari took only the main bones of Nicholas's skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=136}} The city of Venice had interest in obtaining the remaining fragments of his skeleton. In 1044, they dedicated the [[San Nicolò al Lido]] monastery basilica to him on the north end of the [[Lido di Venezia]].{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=125–127}} According to a single chronicle written by an anonymous monk at this monastery, in 1100, a [[Venetian expedition to the Levant (1099–1100)|fleet of Venetian ships]] accompanied by Bishop [[Enrico Contarini]] sailed past Myra on their way to Palestine for the First Crusade. Bishop Enrico insisted for the fleet to turn back and set anchor in Myra.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=127}} The Venetians took the remaining bones of Saint Nicholas, as well as those of several other bishops of Myra, from the church there, which was only guarded by four Orthodox monks, and brought them to [[Venice]], where they deposited them in the San Nicolò al Lido.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=127–136}} This tradition was lent credence in two scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which confirmed that the relics in the two cities are anatomically compatible and may belong to the same person.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.enec.it/Cripte/venezia.htm| title= Ci sono ossa di san Nicola anche a Venezia?| trans-title= There are also bones of St. Nicholas in Venice?| language= it| website= enec.it| publisher= Europe – Near East Center| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121209132748/http://www.enec.it/Cripte/venezia.htm| archive-date= 9 December 2012| access-date= 2 March 2017| url-status= dead| df= dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.enec.it/cripte2/ipotesi/ipotesi.htm| title= Ma le ossa sono tutte a Bari?| trans-title= Are all the bones in Bari?| language= it| website= enec.it| publisher= Europe – Near East Center| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121208105336/http://www.enec.it/cripte2/ipotesi/ipotesi.htm| archive-date= 8 December 2012| access-date= 2 March 2017| url-status= dead| df= dmy-all}}</ref>{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}} It is said that someone dies every time the bones of Saint Nicholas in Venice are disturbed. The last time the bones were examined was in July 1992.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=131}}

=== Other locations ===
[[File:St Nicholas' Tomb.jpg|thumb|[[Tomb of Saint Nicholas]] near Thomastown, Ireland]]
Because of Nicholas's skeleton's long confinement in Myra, after it was brought to Bari, the demand for pieces of it rose. Small bones quickly began to disperse across western Europe.{{sfn|Seal|2005|pages=135–137}} The sailors who had transported the bones gave one tooth and two fragments chipped from Nicholas's sarcophagus to the Norman knight [[William Pantulf]]. Pantulf took these relics to his hometown of Noron in Normandy, where they were placed in the local Church of St. Peter in June 1092.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=136}} In 1096, the duke of Apulia gave several bones of Saint Nicholas to the count of [[Flanders]], which he then enshrined in the Abbey of [[Watten, Nord|Watten]].{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=136}} According to legend, in 1101, Saint Nicholas appeared in a vision to a French clerk visiting the shrine at Bari and told him to take one of his bones with him to his hometown of [[Saint-Nicolas-de-Port|Port]], near [[Nancy, France|Nancy]]. The clerk took a finger bone back with him to Port, where a chapel was built to Saint Nicholas.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=137}} Port became an important center of devotion in the following of Nicholas and, in the fifteenth century, a church known as the [[Saint-Nicolas, Saint-Nicolas-de-Port|Basilique Saint-Nicolas]] was built there dedicated to him.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=137}} The town itself is now known as "Saint Nicolas de Port" in honor of Nicholas.{{sfn|Lendering|2006|page=Medieval Saint}}

The clergy at Bari strategically gave away samples of Nicholas's bones to promote the following and enhance its prestige. Many of these bones were initially kept in Constantinople,{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=137}} but, after the [[Sack of Constantinople (1204)|Sack of Constantinople]] in 1204 during the [[Fourth Crusade]], these fragments were scattered across western Europe. A hand claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas was kept in the [[San Nicola in Carcere]] in Rome.{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=137}} This church, whose name means "Saint Nicholas in Chains", was built on the site of a former municipal prison. Stories quickly developed about Nicholas himself having been held in that prison.{{sfn|English|2016|page=133}} Mothers would come to the church to pray to Saint Nicholas for their jailed sons to be released and repentant criminals would place [[votive offerings]] in the church.{{sfn|English|2016|page=133}} As a result of this, Nicholas became the patron saint of prisoners and those falsely accused of crimes.{{sfn|English|2016|page=133}} An index finger claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas was kept in a chapel along the Ostian Way in Rome. Another finger was held in [[Ventimiglia]] in [[Liguria]].{{sfn|Seal|2005|page=137}} Today, many churches in Europe, Russia, and the United States claim to possess small relics, such as a tooth or a finger bone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/relics/ |publisher=Saint Nicholas Center |title=Relics of St. Nicholas – Where are They? |access-date=11 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213190227/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/relics/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Cullen|2017}}

An Irish tradition states that the relics of Saint Nicholas are also reputed to have been stolen from Myra by local Norman crusading knights in the twelfth century and buried near [[Thomastown, County Kilkenny|Thomastown]], [[County Kilkenny]], where a stone slab marks the reputed "[[Tomb of Saint Nicholas]]".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/conservationplans/Newton_Jerpoint.pdf| page= 81| title= Heritage Conservation Plan: Newtown Jerpoint County Kilkenny| publisher= An Chomhairle Oidhreachta/The Heritage Council| year= 2007| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161012183822/http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/conservationplans/Newton_Jerpoint.pdf| archive-date= 12 October 2016| access-date= 2 March 2017| df= dmy-all}}</ref> According to the Irish antiquarian [[John Hunt (antiquarian)|John Hunt]], the tomb probably actually belongs to a local priest from [[Jerpoint Abbey]].{{sfn|Hunt|1974}}

[[Russian Orthodox Church]] announced on 22 September 2024 that [[Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral]] in [[Baku]] received a part of Nicholas' relic as a gift.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Бакинскому кафедральному собору передана частица мощей святителя Николая Чудотворца |trans-title=A particle of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was handed over to the Baku Cathedral |url=https://www.pravoslavie.az/newses/news/?id=14863 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.pravoslavie.az |language=ru}}</ref>

=== Scientific analysis ===
[[File:Saint Nicholas.jpg|thumb|upright|18th-century [[Russian icon]] at [[Kizhi]] [[monastery]], [[Karelia]]]]
Whereas the devotional importance of [[relic]]s and the economics associated with pilgrimages caused the remains of most saints to be divided up and spread over numerous churches in several countries, Saint Nicholas is unusual in that most of his bones have been preserved in one spot: his grave crypt in Bari. Even with the allegedly continuing miracle of the manna, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto|archdiocese of Bari]] has allowed for one scientific survey of the bones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/anatomical-examination/ |publisher=Saint Nicholas Center |title=Anatomical Examination of the Bari Relics |access-date=6 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211204409/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/anatomical-examination/ |archive-date=11 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the late 1950s, while the [[crypt]] was undergoing much-needed restoration, the bones were removed from it for the first time since their interment in 1089. A special Pontiffical Commission permitted Luigi Martino, a professor of human anatomy at the [[University of Bari]], to examine the bones under the commission's supervision.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}} Martino took thousands of measurements, detailed scientific drawings, photographs, and x-rays.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}} These examinations revealed the saint to have died at over seventy years of age and to have been of average height and slender-to-average build. He also suffered from severe chronic [[arthritis]] in his spine and pelvis.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}}

In 2004, at the [[University of Manchester]], researchers Caroline Wilkinson and Fraco Introna reconstructed the saint's face based on Martino's examination.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}} The review of the data revealed that the historical Saint Nicholas was {{height|ft=5|in=6}} in height and had a broken nose, which had partially healed, revealing that the injury had been suffered ''ante mortem''.<ref name="face">{{cite web|title=The Real Face of St. Nicholas|url=http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/real-face/|website=St Nicholas Center|access-date=15 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161204135142/http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/real-face/|archive-date=4 December 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="face2">{{cite news| url=http://www.atlanticproductions.tv/productions/specials/the-real-face-of-santa/| title=The Real Face of Santa| access-date=12 November 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112165250/http://www.atlanticproductions.tv/productions/specials/the-real-face-of-santa/| archive-date=12 November 2014| url-status=live}} (navigate to 4th of 4 pictures)</ref> The broken nose appeared to conform with hagiographical reports that Saint Nicholas had been beaten and tortured during the [[Diocletianic Persecution]].{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}} The facial reconstruction was produced by Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Manchester and was shown on a BBC2 TV program ''The Real Face of Santa''.<ref name="face"/><ref name="face2"/> In 2014, the Face Lab at [[Liverpool John Moores University]] produced an updated reconstruction of Saint Nicholas's face.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2018|page=163}}

In 2017, two researchers from [[Oxford University]], Professor Tom Higham and Doctor Georges Kazan, [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] a fragment of a pelvis claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas. The fragment originally came from a church in [[Lyon, France]]{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}}{{sfn|Coughlan|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}} and, at the time of testing, was in the possession of Father Dennis O'Neill, a priest from St Martha of Bethany Church in Illinois.{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}}{{sfn|Coughlan|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}} The results of the radiocarbon dating confirmed that the pelvis dates to the fourth century AD, around the same time that Saint Nicholas would have died, and is not a medieval forgery.{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}}{{sfn|Coughlan|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}} The bone was one of the oldest the Oxford team had ever examined.

According to Professor Higham, most of the relics the team has examined turn out to be too recent to have actually belonged to the saint to whom they are attributed, but he states, "This bone fragment, in contrast, suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains from St Nicholas himself."{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}} Kazan believes the pelvis fragment may come from the same individual as the skeleton divided between the churches in Bari and Venice,{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}}{{sfn|Coughlan|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}} since the bone they tested comes from the left [[pubis (bone)|pubis]], and the only pelvis bone in the collection at Bari is the left [[Ilium (bone)|ilium]].{{sfn|University of Oxford|2017}} In the absence of DNA testing, however, it is not yet possible to know for certain whether the pelvis is from the same man.{{sfn|Coughlan|2017}}{{sfn|Cullen|2017}}