The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back more than 1,700 years. The real Saint Nicholas lived in the Mediterranean during the time of the Roman Empire. Though he’s associated with gift-giving, that Saint Nick seems totally distinct from the jolly, list-making Santa Claus common in modern Christmas imagery. You have to wonder, how did an early Christian bishop turn into a figure known for climbing down chimneys to deliver toys to children across the globe? While it may be difficult to catch the man himself in action to ask, we can look to the places that celebrate the legend of old Kris Kringle. 

In Michigan, there’s a school where future Clauses learn their craft. Called the “Harvard of Santa schools,” the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School was created by a former Macy’s Santa who was displeased with the state of Santas across the country. In Wilmington, New York, it’s Christmas for six months out of the year. Santa’s Workshop is one of the earliest theme parks in the United States where everything is Christmas-themed. Visitors can even have breakfast or dinner with Santa himself. From a post office at the Arctic Circle where many Christmas lists end up to a museum filled with Claus lore, here are seven places dedicated to the holiday’s most notable figure.