Also, I have often read about it when coming across the story of Nicolò Giustinian. This young man from one of the greatest Venetian families had become a monk and was living in the convent on the Lido. As he was the only male member left in his family and people in Venice were worried his family would be extincted, a public petition was sent to the Pope to grant permission to release him from his vows. He married the daughter of the Doge at the time and they had nine boys and three girls. Later on, after having ensured that his family would live on, the monk returned to his religious life on the Lido's convent and the woman went to a convent too on a different island.
But recently, while reading an article, I have discovered this church is also known as they say here rest some of Saint Nicholas's relics. According to the story and to most recent studies, the church in Bari would own most of the relics of the Saint but Venice would still own a few of the fragmented bones left by the people of Bari. In their expedition, in 1087, they looted most of the bones of the Saint. However, being in a hurry, they left some behind for the Venetians... And when the Venetians left for their First Crusade, in 1099, and stopped at Myra, in the Church of Saint Nicholas they would have found a copper urn containing some of the left over fragmented bones. As it always happens, there was disagreement about where the relics should be kept and in the end it was decided to keep them in Lido as here there was already a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MerryOldSanta.jpg
For centuries Bari and Venice have been rivals as they both claim to possess the real relics of the Saint. The figure of Saint Nicholas, is important also because it has probably inspired the figure of Santa Claus. Nicholas was a rich and kind man living in the fourth century AD in Myra in Asia Minor (today called Turkey), who had become a bishop and was always helping the poor. There are several stories about him but the most famous is the one of the poor man with three daughters. His three girls could not get married as the family was so poor they could not have a dowry. One night, Nicholas would have dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house for the first daughter. The bag would have obviously fallen into a stocking that had left to dry by the fireplace! The same would have happened for the second daughter. Therefore the curious dad would then have secretly waited impatient to discover who he should thank and he would have seen Nicholas. Even though he was begged not to reveal the fact, the secret was revealed and every time somebody would get a secret gift people would say it had been thanks to Saint Nicholas. He became popular because of his reputation as a bringer of gifts often in shoes or boots. He inspired both the figure of the American Santa Claus and the British Father Christmas. Saint Nicholas is celebrated on December 6 in many European countries and also in many other areas in the world.
http://www.biography.com/people/st-nicholas-204635
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