Opanak

Opanci with flat end

Opanak (Bulgarian: цървул, опинок[a]; Macedonian: опинок; Serbian Cyrillic: опанак) are traditional peasant shoes worn in Southeastern Europe (specifically Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia). The attributes of the Opanci (name in plural) are: a construction of leather, lack of laces, durable, and various ending on toes. In Serbia, the design of the horn-like ending on toes indicates the region of origin. The concept, and the word, exists in Romania (as opincă) which is borrowed from Slavic. The Opanci are considered a national symbol of Serbia, and the traditional peasant footwear for people in the Balkan region.

Dacian Model - Museum Capitolini

Etymology

Serbo-Croatian òpanak/о̀панак, as well as Bulgarian and Macedonian опинок, ultimately derive from Proto-Slavic word *opьnъkъ.[1] Proto-Slavic *opьnъkъ is composed from the following parts:[1]

So literally, òpanak/о̀панак would roughly mean "climbing footwear".[2]

History

Until 50 years ago, they were usually worn in rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.[3] Nowadays, they are only used in folk costume, for folkloric dance ensembles, festivals, feast days or other cultural events.

The largest Opanak in the world, in the Guinness World Book since 2006, is the 3.2m shoe, size 450, weighing 222 kg, made by opančar Slavko Strugarević, from Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia.[4]

Regional varieties

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

The opanci are part of some variations of the Croatian national costume.

Greece

Macedonia

Montenegro

Serbia

Opanci are known as national symbol of Serbia, and part of Serbian National costume of Serbia.

Šumadija opanak s kljunom

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Serbian: Опанак/Opanak, pl. Опанци/Opanci, Опанкe/opanke, Bosnian and Croatian: Opanak, pl. Opanci, Macedonian: Опинок, pl. опинци, opinci; Bulgarian: pl. опинци, opintsi. Spellings and variants:
    • Bulgarian variants include Цървул, pl. Цървулите / опинки / връвчанки / калеври.
    • Adaptations into other language: Romanian language: opincă, Albanian language: opinga.

References

  1. 1 2 Skok, Petar (1972), Etimologijski rječnik hrvatskoga ili srpskoga jezika, knjiga druga: K-poni 2, Zagreb: Jugoslavenska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, p. 651
  2. V. Anić; et al. (2004). Hrvatski enciklopedijski rječnik 7. Zagreb: Jutarnji list. ISBN 953-6045-28-1.
  3. Eliznik.org.uk, South East Europe costume, peasant sandals
  4. Smedia.rs, Napravio najveći opanak na svetu! (Serbian)

External links

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