The Ancient Tomb of Santa Claus Has Been Discovered Beneath a Turkish Church
No, this is not a joke. Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered an ancient tomb beneath the ruins of an old church in Turkey. They believe that tomb contains the remains of the real Saint Nicholas a.k.a. Santa Claus.
St. Nicholas Church is located in Turkey’s southern Antalya province and the tomb was discovered while they were doing electronic surveys of what was beneath the church. The site of the shrine is said to be completely undamaged, but it was hard to get to because of the mosaics on the floor of the church.
Newsweek reports:
The claims over the 1,674-year-old remains of Saint Nicholas would compete with differing narratives that place the original saint’s relics as far away as Italy and Ireland.
At the time of his death in 343 A.D., Saint Nicholas was interred at the Church in Demre, formerly known as Myra, where he lay undisturbed until the 11th century. Then, according to different accounts from Italy at the time, his remains were taken during the crusades to either Venice or Bari, Italy. One story, less widely believed, places the bones in an abandoned churchyard in southern Ireland after they were brought there by French knights.
Most Catholic and Orthodox Christians accept that the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy, is the final resting place of Santa Claus’s remains. However, Turkish experts are now claiming the wrong bones were removed and those taken abroad belong to an anonymous priest.
Nothing is 100% confirmed yet, but all of the archeologists involved are very confident that this is the resting place of Santa Claus. It looks like the popular mythologized saint may have a new story for scholars and fans to talk about and debate.
I'm a huge fan of archeology, so I just thought this would make a fun piece of news to share. Maybe the next Indiana Jones film could be a Christmas adventure movie involving the supernatural elements surrounding Santa Claus!