St. Nicholas is the inspiration behind the creation of Santa Claus, the jolly, happy white-bearded man connected to Christmas and New Year’s Eve. St. Nicholas’s famous deed is his distribution of wealth to the poor. This move of his is the thing that started the tradition of giving presents on Christmas.
St. Nicholas was a saint that lived and served the church in the area of today’s Turkey. He has been active from 270 until 343 AD. Until now, the location of his mortal remains was not known. However, as of now, Turkish researchers believe they found the exact tomb, where the saint was buried.
Researchers Found Real Santa Claus’s Tomb In Turkey
It was believed that the remains of the saint were taken to Bari in Italy in the eleventh century. Looters took it and sold it to the authorities in Italy. Crusaders came to Turkey and looted the church robbing it of everything it had, including the bones of what they thought was St Nicholas’s. However, now, Turkish researchers found a clue that may be hinting that the looters took the wrong bones.
Archeologists and researchers working at the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey, uncovered stone mosaic floors where the saint held mass, and where it is believed he was buried.
“We are talking about the floor on which St. Nicholas’s feet stepped. This is an extremely important discovery, the first find from that period.” – Osnam Eravsar, a head of cultural heritage in Turkey said in a recent interview.
The church was believed to be founded back in the 7th century. However, by doing electronic scans of the surface of the church, it was revealed that there is an older layer. A layer below it, dating from the third century AD. The researchers kept on removing the upper layer until they now finally uncovered the remains of the ancient basilica below it.
The reason the church was rebuilt in the 7th century is that the initial one suffered a great flood. According to the researchers, the flood left it in very bad condition.
“His sarcophagus must have been placed in a special place. That is the part with three apses covered with a dome. There we discovered a fresco depicting Jesus. It is a scene where Jesus is holding the Bible in his left hand and making the sign of blessing with his right hand.” – Osnam Eravsar continued. “There are probably other bones that are said to belong to him, or at least other iconographic fragments.”
The Church in Demre is a UNESCO World Heritage since 1982.
