Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is located south of Nancy, near the Lorraine countryside.
Peaceful city, it is recognizable of all, with the high towers of the basilica that cap the orange roofs of its houses, its game-filled forests and hillsides of flowering plum, overlooking the banks of the Meurthe.
The city boasts more than 1000 years of history. Ancient Gallo-Roman town, called Portus, it has seen its growth through the White Gold of salt that the time lords, allowed him to easily carry the salt tax (tax on salt). The first salt farms back to the 9th century. Of grain land and generous know-how Lorraine is also the beginning of a great adventure brewing. But it is the contribution to the 11th century by a nobleman of Lorraine, Aubert, a phalanx of St. Nicolas (265-345), bishop of Myra, which gives Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, both his name and influence. The phalanx will be the source of many miracles, and pilgrims, the religious fervor of the time, abound; emperors, queens and kings come and bow at the foot of the relic.
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port saw its heyday in the 16th century. The flamboyant church Saint Nicolas was built on the initiative of the Duke of Lorraine, Rene II. Merchants and pilgrims flock there and the city now has 10,000 souls. She then dethrones the Champagne fairs and is rapidly becoming one of the cities fairs and pilgrimages most important in Europe. But the 17th and 18th centuries come with wars, the Revolution, and lots of suffering. Firing and sword, Saint-Nicolas-de-Port declines. Then come the two world wars, when many "children of St. Nicolas" die for France. It was not until the late 20th century that Saint-Nicolas-de-Port reborn, with Pius the 12th, which gives the official title of basilica church, and a gift from Camille Croué-Friedman who also restores all damaged by the ravages of time and the bombings of 1940.
Today Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a dynamic city: about 8000 inhabitants, 26% of young people under 20 years, more than 80 associations, a fabric craft, industrial and commercial variety, fast communications networks to all Europe, a high-speed computer coverage, events throughout the year with, in apotheosis, that of Saint Nicolas Winter, international influence.
In addition to all shops and traditional services, Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a city of knowledge, with master craftsmen in chocolate, confectionery, stained glass art and woodwork ... It is a tertiary center, with banking and insurance, notary and lawyer and is a health center, with many GPs and specialists, hospital and veterinary clinic. Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a city of culture and heritage, with a flamboyant basilica, two important museums, a vibrant tourist office, houses classified, library-media center, a community center, art exhibitions and concerts. This is a busy city and fraternal associations with social, cultural, sports, patriotic dynamic and diverse, and quality infrastructure: premises of arousal, several stages, two tennis courts, one covered, and a sports complex modern.
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a city for all, with a children's nursery and kindergarten for children, schools and a college for young people, two homes and a health center for people needing assistance.
Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a city-oriented environment, with the development of an arboretum and the reintroduction of storks in the heart of the city and is a city open to the world, with matches in Germany and Italy (Dielheim and Parish San Salvo). Finally, Saint-Nicolas-de-Port is a lively city with a neighborhood near the Meurthe being revitalized, and a business area of La Croisette booming.
Gastronomic specialties: Saint Nicolas gingerbread, Mythre of St. Nicolas, Portoise hotpot.
Saint Nicolas Saint Nicolas was born in 265 to backstay in a rich and pious family. Orphaned young, and very religious, he decided to devote his life to the fight against poverty. But persecuted during the reign of Diocletian, he was arrested, and is forced to live in exile, until the Emperor Constantine restore religious freedom. He then returned to Myra (now Turkey), as bishop. He died in 345, after having performed many miracles: he would have calmed storms, prevented starvation for her people, saved from dishonor three young daughters without dowries, and raised 3 children cut by a butcher. Later, 47 hijackers bring the body Bari in Italy. Lorraine a nobleman, returning from Crusade, steals a finger of the holy man to put it in a sanctuary in Port, which becomes Saint-Nicolas-de-Port. The miracles continue and the city becomes a place of pilgrimage. And a procession is held annually and St. Nicolas, the forerunner of Santa Claus, patron saint of children and Lorraine, was celebrated in New York to Moscow.
History of the procession: Cunon of Réchicourt had gone to the Holy Land around 1230 to deliver Jerusalem. During a battle against the Saracens, the noble lord of Réchicourt was taken prisoner and thrown into the dungeon. In his prison near Gaza in Palestine, chained, Cunon prayed Saint Nicolas. On 5 December 1240, the prisoner begged and invoked the holy bishop of Myra. By an extraordinary miracle he awoke on the morning of Dec. 6 on the square of the current basilica. He established the following year the procession to commemorate the miracle.
Tradition of Saint Nicolas: Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, historic capital of St. Nicolas! Tradition has it that on the evening of December 6, children leave their shoes outside the door along with a carrot and sugar for a donkey. Saint Nicolas passes in the night and deposited oranges, sweets, gingerbread and a few times toys. And that since 1240 (770 years) ...
