The grave of Saint Nicholas, who inspired the story of ‘Santa Claus’, is located under a church in Turkey

Archaeologists say they have found the grave of St Nicholas that inspired the story of ‘Santa Claus’.

They discovered a 6-foot-long limestone tomb with a raised lid and a sloping roof, buried up to 6 feet underground near St. Nicholas Church in Turkey.

The sarcophagus was found in a two-story building bordering the church courtyard to the south.

Now the team is looking for an inscription on the sarcophagus, which could reveal the date and identity of the deceased.

“The fact that we found a sarcophagus near the church, which is believed to house his tomb, may indicate that this is the sacred area we have been looking for,” said Associate Professor Ebru Fatma Findik of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University .

The tomb was found in the ruins of an ancient basilica that was flooded during the Middle Ages due to rising sea levels in the Mediterranean.

Historical records show that shortly afterwards the Church of St. Nicholas was built on top of the foundation to protect the saint’s grave.

But only recently did archaeologists discover mosaic and stone floors from the previous sanctuary that led them to Saint Nicholas’s final resting place.

The design has a raised lid and a sloping roof, consistent with other sarcophagi from the region

Stories about the saintly figure, who lived between 270 and 343 AD, suggest that he inherited money and gave it away to the poor, specifically three girls, to save them from a life of prostitution.

However, these ideas are not presented in historical documents, but only passed on in verbal stories.

Santa Claus is based on stories about Sinterklaas who built a reputation for performing miracles and secretly giving gold to the needy.

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick’s Dutch nickname Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas, which is Dutch for Sinterklaas.

‘Currently we can see the lid part of the sarcophagus and we have uncovered a small part of the container. In the future, we will dig deeper and reveal it fully,” Fındık was quoted as saying by Anadolu.

Records show that Saint Nicholas was buried in the church built in his name, but the exact whereabouts of his body has always been a mystery.

The Byzantine church built on the foundation was a place of worship for Orthodox Christians between the 5th and 12th centuries and was surrounded by statues of Saint Nicholas.

It was also added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1982.

Sinterklaas, who lived between 270 and 343 AD, is most famous for inheriting money that he gave away to the poor and specifically the story of how he gifted three girls with bags of gold to save them from a life of prostitution

Archaeologists have long believed that Saint Nicholas’ grave was hiding near the church in Turkey

The second church was found after researchers conducted an electronic survey under St. Nicholas Church, finding gaps between the floor and the ground.

Then, in 2022, the team announced that they may have found the tomb, but were still working on removing the floor of the Byzantine church so as not to damage it.

Osman Eravsar, the head of the Provincial Council for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Antalya, told the Demirören news agency that year: “The first church was submerged by the rise of the Mediterranean Sea, and several centuries later a new church built above it.

The Byzantine Church (photo), built on the ancient foundation, was a place of worship for Orthodox Christians between the 5th and 12th centuries

Inside the St. Nicholas Church. Records show that Saint Nicholas was buried in the church built in his name, but the exact whereabouts of his body have always been a mystery.

‘Now we have reached the remains of the first church and the floor on which Sinterklaas stepped.

‘The tiled floor of the first church, on which Sinterklaas walked, has been excavated.’

Records show that Saint Nicholas was buried in the church built in his name, but the exact whereabouts of his body had always been a mystery.

It was believed that the bones of Saint Nicholas were smuggled by merchants to the Italian city of Bari in 1087.

But archaeologists now suggest that the wrong bones were removed – and that the bones that went to Italy belonged to an anonymous priest.

Saint Nicholas’s relics are still enshrined in the 11th-century Basilica of San Nicola in Bari, although churches around the world have acquired fragments.