More than 1,600 years after his death, archaeologists have uncovered the tomb of Saint Nicholas- the saint behind the famous lore of ‘Santa Claus’, whose birthday is celebrated on December 25th every year as ‘Christmas Day’.
The Santa Claus tomb has been uncovered in the Southern part of Turkey, Antalya district. Centuries ago, the original church was situated in the town of Demre, a town in the same district. However, it got submerged in the Mediterranean due to rising sea levels. Earlier, it was believed that the mortal remains were looted and siphoned off to Bari in Italy. However, now the new consensus says that the looters took someone else’s remains from Turkey.
‘The Church on which Saint Nicholas walked has been unearthed’: Cultural Heritage Preservation Board
After the original St Nicholas church got submerged, the locals built another one atop it to protect the Santa Claus tomb. Archaeologists recently found stone flooring and mosaics underneath, which led them towards the grave of St Nicholas.
Speaking to Demirören News Agency, The head of the provincial cultural heritage preservation board in Antalya, Osman Eravsar said, “The first church was submerged with the rise of the Mediterranean Sea, and some centuries later, a new church was built above. Now we have reached the remains of the first church and the floor on which Saint Nicholas stepped. The tiling of the floor of the first church, on which Saint Nicholas walked, has been unearthed.” The Demiroren News Agency English Tweeted: “11th-century murals brought to light in St. Nicholas #Memorial Museum The murals in the memorial #museum of St. Nicholas, known as ‘#Santa Claus’, are being cleaned and strengthened #Demre #SantaClaus”.
St Nicholas was known for his generosity
St Nicholas, a Greek-origin Christian bishop, walked on Earth at around 270 and 343 AD and lived in the region which is known as Turkey today. Not much is known about his life, except that he wrought about several miracles and that he was generous. He is the figure behind Santa Claus.
Legend has it that he helped three poor sisters by giving them a bag of gold coins each so that they could pay for their dowry. However, he could not embarrass them by giving them the money in public. So, he crept inside their house at midnight to quietly keep the coins. But, their father saw the Saint keeping the second bag and expressed his gratitude. The Saint made him promise not to tell anyone. The accuracy of the tale remains unknown, but has been passed through generations.
The name “Santa Claus” is the Dutch version of the name of St Nicholas- Sinter Klaas, the shorter version of Sint Nikolaas.
