{"id":12292,"date":"2024-12-20T12:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T17:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=12292"},"modified":"2024-12-20T12:26:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T17:26:01","slug":"recently-discovered-stone-tomb-may-contain-remains-of-santa-claus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2024\/12\/recently-discovered-stone-tomb-may-contain-remains-of-santa-claus.html","title":{"rendered":"Recently Discovered Stone Tomb May Contain Remains of Santa Claus"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_12298\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12298\" style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-12298\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2024\/12\/St-Nicholas_credit-Ministry-of-Culture-and-Tourism-of-the-Republic-of-Turkey-Inset-Adobe-Stock-550x413.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"550\" height=\"413\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12298\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey | Inset: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A sarcophagus uncovered in a 7th-century Turkish church may contain the remains of Saint Nicholas, the bishop credited as the inspiration for the character of Santa Claus. Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II ordered the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas near where Nicholas had served as bishop in the city of Myra, located in Asia Minor, which is now present-day Turkey. Nicholas\u2019s body was said to be interred at the church but was later exhumed in the 11<sup>th<\/sup> century and brought to Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Southern Italy to be treated as a sacred relic. His remains were then reportedly removed during the First Crusade and brought to Venice at the San Nicol\u00f2 al Lido monastery basilica. Tests to confirm the body, however, have been inconclusive.<\/p>\n<p>The sarcophagus found at the Church of St. Nicholas measures 6 feet long and about 5 feet deep. The site has often been believed to still contain Nicholas\u2019s remains. \u201cThe discovery of a sarcophagus near the church, which is believed to be the resting place of St. Nicholas, could indicate that this site may indeed be the sacred area in question. We can say that we have reached archaeological evidence that confirms historical sources about St. Nicholas&#8217; burial place being in the city&#8217;s sacred area,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/santa-claus-sarcophagus-believe-discovered-during-excavation-project\">said<\/a> Professor Ebru Fatma Findik of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University&#8217;s Department of Art History. Further research needs to be done before the remains can be confirmed. \u201cOur biggest hope is to find an inscription on the sarcophagus. This would help clarify the burial contents and allow us to determine the exact period it dates from,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritagedaily.com\/2024\/12\/sarcophagus-found-at-church-of-st-nicholas-could-be-the-tomb-of-santa-claus\/154084\">said Findik<\/a>. \u201cWhile the lid of the sarcophagus has been uncovered, only a small section of the burial chamber has been exposed, and further excavation is expected to reveal more details in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bishop Nicholas of Myra was known for his generous spirit and gift-giving. One of his most famous <a href=\"https:\/\/sharedhope.org\/2023\/12\/06\/36730\/#:~:text=In%20one%20of%20the%20most,dowry%20for%20each%20of%20them.\">legends<\/a> features him rescuing three impoverished sisters from selling themselves into prostitution by sneaking bags of gold into their home for three nights, providing them with a dowry to marry well. Not all stories of Nicholas are jolly, of course. Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stnicholascenter.org\/who-is-st-nicholas\/stories-legends\/traditional-stories\/life-of-nicholas\/bishop-nicholas-loses-his-cool\">famous legend<\/a> claims Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea. During the council, Arius, a bishop from Egypt, argued that Jesus was not equal to God, a major theological point of the Christian Trinity. Nicholas was so outraged that he slapped Arius across the face. Nicholas was briefly stripped of his bishop robes and thrown in jail for the action, though Emperor Constantine later had him reinstated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sarcophagus uncovered in a 7th-century Turkish church may contain the remains of Saint Nicholas, the bishop credited as the inspiration for the character of Santa Claus. Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II ordered the construction of the Church of St. Nicholas near where Nicholas had served as bishop in the city of Myra, located in Asia&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":12298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Recently Discovered Stone Tomb May Contain Remains of Santa Claus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Newly found sarcophagus in Turkey&#039;s Church of St. Nicholas might contain the remains of Santa Claus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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