Saint Nicholas is often referenced as the inspiration of present-day Santa Claus.

The ancient resting place of Saint Nicholas, the model for the legend of Santa Claus, was found by archaeologists under a church in southern Turkey.

The saint was interred at a church built in the province of Antalya, Turkey, in the fourth century AD. But about 700 years after he passed away, his remains were taken, so it’s unclear where he was buried first.

The church, which is in Myra, was renamed Demre in 2005, according to Greek Reporter. On the ruins of an earlier Christian church where Saint Nicholas served as bishop, it was constructed in 520 AD.

According to some scholars, the Middle Ages’ rising Mediterranean sea levels caused the cemetery to be flooded.

According to Osman Eravsar, the president of the provincial cultural heritage preservation board in Antalya, “the original church was drowned with the rise of the Mediterranean Sea, and several centuries later, a second church was erected above,” he told the Turkish news outlet Demiroren Haber Ajansi.

Osman Eravsar recently revealed the site of Saint Nicholas’ tomb, which lies at the foot of a mural of Jesus Christ.

We have now arrived to the original church’s ruins and the floor that Saint Nicholas trod on, the speaker said. Eravsar said that tiles from the first church’s floor, which Saint Nicholas walked on, had also been uncovered.

Between 270 and 343 AD, Saint Nicholas, who is credited with popularising the custom of distributing presents at Christmas, was known for benevolently aiding the needy.

The saint’s frequent anonymous donations of his inherited wealth to the underprivileged eventually gave rise to the Santa Claus mythology. “Nicholas the Wonderworker” was another name for him.