It was the summer of 1999 and a Christmas miracle was in the air. “I am making a monument to Father Frost,” said architect Grigory Pototsky, eyes beaming like that of a five-year-old grandson of Father Frost. It was as if his New Year’s gift was a dream come true.
The architect truly did become a witness to the reincarnation of a fairytale. At the turn of the millennium the theological debates over whether Father Frost should be considered a heathen deity or sorcerer ended not in a compromise but rather in the complete victory of humanism. Father Frost and Santa Claus were declared cultural traditions of Christianity, the prototype for which was Saint Nicolas, the historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, in Lycia, part of modern-day Turkey) – Father Frost for all of humanity. He was the one who inspired the belief in miracles through good deeds.
Much water has passed under the bridge since those days: on the ruins of the Lycian Myra grew the Turkish town of Demre, where the ‘alien’ tradition of belief in the miracle of Father Frost was not recognized. But in 1999, Muslims began musing over what to call their own Father Frost – Grandfather Ramadan or Father Nasreddin? Grateful Catholics, seeing the modest improvement in tolerance, were almost ready to change their own legend that St. Nicolas was born in Bari, Italy. However, they held tight to their right to safeguard the relics of saint in the Basilica di San Nicola (Basilica of St. Nicholas), where they are kept to this day.
And so the joyful Pototsky summed journalist to the town of Demre. This place located between Fethiye and Antalya promised to become a monument to tolerance. This was to be symbolized by St. Nicholas – Santa Claus, Father Frost or Noel Baba, as he is called in Turkey.
So all this seemed to shaping up to be a fairytale with a happy ending – allowing, among other things, this resort area to attract tourists from all over the world. But this monument stood for a mere instance in historical terms. In 2001 already Ankara sent an official request to the Vatican on the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from the church in Bari, Italy, to Demre, Turkey. And although Turkey’s striving to acquire the sacred relics of St. Nicholas, as one can easily guess, was dictated by economic interests (according to Turkish tourism specialists, such a shrine could bring in millions of dollars each year with heighten attention from tourists), politics interfered. The Vatican declined, citing the age-old tradition of little remains lie in place.
When the Justice and Development Party came to power in 2003, its functionaries, having grown tired of pleading with the Vatican, ordered the monument removed. Soon, in place of the statue of St. Nicholas, a bright-red plastic figure was erected to represent Father Frost. Or Santa Claus. The globe was removed. This way it became particularly clear that Father Frost was a local, born in this town.
This lack of coherency, which seemed more like a mockery of Christian saints, provoked outrage, and not only in the Christian world. The speedy removal of the monument to Nicholas the Miracleworker (as he is referred to in Russia) was one of the things which led to the appearance of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in European press.
In searching for a compromise in this no-win situation, Ankara made a gesture of goodwill: the monument to St. Nicholas was once again erected, but this time in a secluded corner of a half ruined church were the saint once preached. However, before long half of the church was covered in translucent sheeting, apparently to allow for restoration.
Thus together with the monument to Father Frost/Santa Claus, the entire idea of tolerance was packed off to be restored. The Scandinavians returned to the idea of declaring Lapland the homeland of Father Frost. Catholic Europe justly but preachingly emphasizes that the image of Father Frost appeared in Russia quite recently, in the late 19th – early 20th century, and its prototype initially was not St. Nicholas but rather the Western European wizard Santa Claus.
Russia since 2004 has celebrated the birthday of Father Frost on November 18. And his official residence has become the town of Veliky Ustyug, where according to folk wisdom winter arrives on November 18.
In 1991, the world seemed to be on the verge of a miracle: Father Frost could have become universal, for all of humanity. But according to folk wisdom and the forecasts of political meteorologists, we should not hold our breaths waiting for a thaw. Nowadays Father Frost’s problem is not with theologians but rather with political strategists. In Turkey Noel Baba gives out gifts to children and performs miracles, but only in the northwestern regions of the country. For now there is no Father Frost figure that unifies the entire country. In the center of Demre another monument was established about a year ago to ‘Turkish Father Frost’, who hands out the Koran to children. In this manner Ankara is trying to resolve a very uncomfortable dilemma for the country’s political elite: how can one make compatible the profitable tourism business in an ancient Christian land with Islamic values. Other nations and nationalities struggling with the issue of self-identity have adopted approaches similar to that of the Turkish. In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan Father Frost [Ded Moroz] is now Kysh Babay, in the Republic of Sakha – Chiskhan, in Ukraine – Dyado Koleda, etc.
But this patchy colored reality is made somewhat more bearable by the fact that on November 18 father Frost in Veliky Ustyug is paid visits by his many brothers – Santa Claus from Finland, Chiskhan from Sakha, Pakkaine from Karelia, Mikul
