Santa Dead, Archaeologists Say

Santa – St. Nicholas – Gift-Giving & Kindness

During Christmas season, parents shared some interesting details with their kids regarding Santa coming and dropping presents as per their requests which had to be sent to him in advance. Saint Nicholas of Myra, presently Demre, had been popular for his secret gift-giving and kindness. Archaeologists in southern Turkey had informed that they have found the tomb of the original Santa Claus known as St. Nicholas which gave rise to the legend of Santa Claus, below his namesake church in the vicinity of the Mediterranean Sea.

The researchers had unearthed an intact temple beneath the Saint Nicholas Church in the Demre district. A special area had been located in the temple at the time of scientific and technological works with assumptions that the tomb could have been buried there. Researchers discovered the untouched shrine while performing digital surveys beneath the surface of the church.

Archaeologists leading surveys at the church in Demre discovered gaps below it and informed that the shrine is beneath the church which has not been touched. Cemil Karabayram, head of Antalya’s Monument Authority had informed the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News that they were of the belief that this shrine has not been damaged at all though it seems very difficult to get to it due to the mosaics on the floor.

Patron Saint of Sailors 

Karabayram informed the newspaper that he is assertive that archaeologist could reach the tomb. He believes that almost 1,700 years after the death of St. Nicholas, Santa would give another gift to the people of Demre in the form of Tourism dollar. Researchers had been working on the excavation for three months with a CT scan, a geo-radar together with eight academics that had been brought in for the excavation work at the final stage. Karabayram had commented that the world’s eyes will be set on here and that they claim St. Nicholas had been placed in this temple without any damage.

He informed that they were at the last stage. St. Nicholas as Santa was well-known for his generous act of kindness and people believed that he placed coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him on his feast day which falls on December 6. Some state that he had been a monk who gave away his immense legacy and chose to reach out to the poor and the sick. Besides this Santa had also been a patron saint of sailors and in particular was very fond of children.

Father Christmas – Europe 

There had been a strange story, more Halloween than Christmas, regarding Santa - St. Nicholas wherein he had saved three children who had been enticed into the controls of an evil butcher. In the 16th century St. Nicholas had begun on his modern, candy-cane hued form in imaginations and images and in Europe he was considered as Father Christmas. Santa is now ingrained in the Christmas dictionary, as the rosy-cheeked image of Christmas who is the topic of movies, constant parental fabrications and debates regarding infancy materialism.

There had been an annual debate on whether it was okay to represent Santa as only white. Last year there had been a photograph of Santa with a shovel near a fence on the border of U.S. with Mexico, a taunt at the immigration policies of Trump. Besides that there was a Santa who had been called a liar for a tale told to a dying child that he was a number one elf of Santa. However, through all this, the remains of the real-life St. Nicholas had actually been the subject of centuries old situation of false identity and grave robbery.

Inspiration for Dutch Figure Sinterklass

St. Nicholas, as per the Telegraph, had died in 343 AD and had been laid to rest at St. Nicholas church in Demre on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Later on he was known as Father Christmas in the 16th century and had been an inspiration for the Dutch figure Sinterklass which had been utilised as the model for Santa Claus.

The researchers had informed that till now they were of the belief that the bones of Santa - St. Nicholas were in Italy. They had studied all the relevant documents between 1942 and 1966 from the notes that were available there. As per these notes, the church had been demolished and rebuilt. During the reconstruction of the church, the traders in Bari had taken the bones.

Apparently, the Telegraph had reported that in 1087, merchants had excavated his bones and had smuggled the same to the Italian city of Bari. It is still said to be a holy site, where the Christians visit it to pay homage to St. Nicholas, - Santa. The Telegraph has reported that the archaeologists state that the pilgrims to the Basilica di San Nicola had been praying to the wrong person. The bones are said to belong to another local priest and not one of the famous saints.