He was married, beat children and 7 more unexpected facts about Santa Claus

Santa Claus was born in the fall

Santa Claus celebrates his birthday not on December 31, or even in winter! He accepts gifts and congratulations on November 18, and this is the official date “recorded” by Grandfather in his documents. Why is that? It is believed that in the homeland of Santa Claus it is on this day that severe frosts hit. Of course, after the revolution, the calendar shifted by two weeks, and the climate has changed since then, so that sometimes even in the “Epiphany frosts” the thermometer does not drop below zero. What can we say about November. But the omen remained.

Santa Claus officially retired

Santa Claus, like any grandfather in Russia, has a pension certificate. He also bears the title of “Veteran of Fairy Work”. At the same time, Santa Claus is very, very old. It is believed to be between 1500 and 2000 years old. The great-great-grandfather of Santa Claus is the no less famous Morozko, about whom the ancient Slavs composed legends.

Santa Claus once beat children

Santa Claus was not always kind. At the time of Peter the Great, for example, this character appeared on New Year’s Eve and beat naughty children with a stick. Much later, the stick turned into a magic staff, and Santa Claus himself became kinder. It happened in 1840, when the writer Vladimir Odoevsky released the collection “Tales of Grandfather Irenaeus”. Both children and adults especially liked the fairy tale “Moroz Ivanovich”, in which a kind wizard lived in an ice palace and slept on a featherbed made of snow.

Santa Claus lives in a 12-room house

Santa Claus does not live at the North Pole, but in a pine forest on the banks of the Sukhona River, 15 km from Veliky Ustyug, a small town in the Vologda region. He moved here in 1999. And before that he lived in Arkhangelsk and on the Kola Peninsula, on the territory of the Lapland Nature Reserve.

In Veliky Ustyug, Father Frost has a huge residence – a carved tower with 12 rooms – according to the number of months in a year. There is a bedroom, a study, and even a magic room with a telescope where guests can make wishes. Another room is reserved for a dressing room. In it, he stores clothes for literally all occasions: fur coats for winter holidays, summer caftans and even a ski tracksuit. Indeed, in a snow-covered forest it is sometimes more convenient to move on skis, and not on a sled. Yes, and physical shape must be maintained in order to have time to deliver gifts to all the kids.

Santa Claus costume is over 700 years old

Santa Claus is very conservative in dress. His outfit, in fact, has not changed for more than seven centuries. Unlike his colleague, Santa Claus, our grandfather wears a toe-length fur coat made of red, blue or white velvet, embroidered with silver threads. He covers his head with a boyar hat on swan down to match the fur coat. And in his hand he holds a magic staff made of crystal ice, which helps to move around the forest, and draw fabulous patterns on the windows, and freeze those who misbehave. Not forever, of course, but only for the sake of prevention.

Santa Claus is married

It turns out that the wizard is by no means a bachelor. Santa Claus has a wife. Mother Winter lives with him on a fabulous estate, but she prefers not to travel. They have three children: Cold, Blizzard and Blizzard. The latter married the son of the Snow Queen – Buran, and they had a daughter, Snow Maiden. Perhaps the most famous granddaughter of the country, without which not a single New Year’s party can do. Although the Snow Maiden travels around the world with her grandfather, she lives separately, in Kostroma.

Relative Basil in Cyprus

Santa Claus has not only a wife, children and a granddaughter. His distant relatives live all over the world. In the USA – Santa Claus, in Germany – Weinachtsman, in France – Père Noel, and in Cyprus – Vasily! They are all friends and visit each other from time to time.

Santa Claus leads social networks

Santa Claus lives in step with the times. He has all the modern gadgets, website and social media pages. And, of course, mail and email. You can put the letter in an envelope in the freezer. But it is best to write to the address “by registration”: 162340, Russia, Vologda region, the city of Veliky Ustyug, the house of Father Frost. By the way, Grandpa keeps the kindest letters in a special box and rereads them from time to time.

Moves at a speed of 40 km / s

To manage to deliver gifts to millions of children in one night, Santa Claus has to move almost at the speed of light. Scientists in the UK have calculated that the New Year’s wizard manages to reach a speed of 114 thousand kilometers per hour or 40 kilometers per second! No wonder no one sees him. And from address to address he moves on a sleigh pulled by three snow-white horses.