Coffin suspected to belong to 'Santa Claus' discovered

A limestone coffin buried 2m deep in the St. Nicholas Church in Demre has been identified as belonging to Saint Nicholas, the model for Santa Claus.

St. Nicholas Church was built over the original burial site of St. Nicholas. (Photo: iStock).

Archaeologists recently discovered a limestone sarcophagus in the St. Nicholas Church in Demre, Antalya, Turkey. They believe this is the burial place of St. Nicholas , the German bishop who is believed to be the model for Santa Claus , Interesting Engineering reported on December 8. Led by associate professor Ebru Fatma Findik from Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, the new discovery is part of a project called "Legacy of the Future" initiated by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The coffin, about 2m long, was buried 1.5-2m underground. The stone coffin has a raised lid and a sloping roof, a style common in the region. The team found the coffin inside a two-storey annex to the church, which has been excavating since 1989. Professor Findik said the discovery of animal bones and fragments of clay lamps confirmed that they were dealing with a burial site.

Researchers hope to find inscriptions on the coffin as well as discover new details. This will help clarify what was buried in the tomb and determine its exact date. Although the coffin has been found, it is only a small part of the tomb. The archaeological team is continuing to excavate.

An early Christian bishop, St. Nicholas was particularly famous for his secret giving of gifts to the poor. Nearly two decades after his death, Theodosius II, the Eastern Roman emperor, ordered the construction of a church in his honor in the 6th century. The church was built over the priest's burial site.

The remains of St. Nicholas were later exhumed and reburied in the church. But in the 11th century, they were reportedly transported to Bari, Italy, and enshrined as a relic in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in southern Italy. During the First Crusade, Venetian sailors collected the remains and transported them to Venice, where they were preserved in the abbey basilica of San Nicolò al Lido. Tests of bone fragments from both Bari and Venice in 1953 revealed that they belonged to the same individual. However, researchers have not been able to confirm whether they are St. Nicholas.

During the excavation, new evidence may help archaeologists get closer to uncovering the mystery behind the saint's burial process.