Archaeologists believe they have found the sarcophagus of ‘real-life Santa Claus’

Catholic bishop was famous for his generosity towards children. Nicholas was born around the year 275 in the city of Patara, but lived most of his life in Myra, both in modern-day Türkiye. He died around the year 350 — according to tradition, on December 6, a date that began to be celebrated by the Catholic Church.

Saint Nicholas was persecuted, arrested and tortured by an anti-Christian emperor. Under the rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, known for massive persecutions against Christians, Bishop Nicholas ended up imprisoned until 305. That year, Emperor Constantine took the throne and released the imprisoned Christians.

Nicholas’s miracles would have been performed on behalf of children and innocents. One of his most famous stories tells of saving three girls from being forced into prostitution by giving them bags of gold for three nights so their father could pay their dowry. Another account resurrected three children killed by a butcher, who planned to sell the meat during a food shortage. For these and other stories he became known as a protector of children.

After being canonized, Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of Russia and Greece. From the 6th century onwards, several churches dedicated to the saint were built, but this trend was interrupted with the Reformation, when the cult of Saint Nicholas disappeared from Protestant Europe, with the exception of Holland, where he was called Sinterklaas.

History mixed with Norse legends and Santa Claus was born. In Holland, the legend of Sinterklaas merged with ancient Norse stories about a mythical wizard who rode a sleigh pulled by reindeer, rewarded good children with gifts and punished those who misbehaved. In the 17th century, Dutch emigrants took the tradition of Sinterklaas to the United States, whose inhabitants adapted the name to Santa Claus, which is easier to pronounce, and created a new legend, consolidated in the 19th century, about a happy and good-natured old man who roamed the world in his sleigh at Christmas, handing out gifts.