Opanaki

The name comes from the pre-Slavic * opínъkъ, which means "climbing shoes" ^[1] . In the middle of the XVIII century, the mass production of opanki began, intensified after the Serbian revolution ^[2] . During the First World War, due to the lack of boots and shoes, the shoes, having migrated from the peaceful clothing of the recruits, became a part of military uniforms. Opanki was worn until the middle of the 20th century. Today they are sold as a souvenir.

Opanki have no heels and often have weave on top. They could be made both by crushing a piece of leather under the shape of a foot and then fixing it with leather tape, or by gluing or sewing on the sole and top, which improves the operational properties of the sole, as well as its strength. ^[3] Cows, pigs or calfskins are used for punk shoes; since the 1930s they can be made from car tires ^[2] .

Opanki from Šumadia and Pomoravja (Central Serbia) have characteristic curved top socks and are called Serbs. Shiљkani or Serb. shiqi . In Kraljevo-Sutjeska ( Kakan community , Bosnia) they wore exclusively black opans, and in the villages of Herzegovina they used colored threads for the upper part, it was elegant, and each village had its own combination of colors. There were special hunting opans: they left hair on the sole so that the hunter could move silently. ^[four]

Initially, they could only be worn with thick woolen socks or onuchi, since a thin leather sole rubbed the foot, but after World War I, the creepers began to be strengthened with rubber soles and insoles were sewn to them, which allowed them to be worn without thick socks. At the same time, it became practice to soak them in a solution of sodium chloride, which gave the opanka a reddish color ^[5] . Also, the creepers were initially tied with leather ribbons to the lower leg, like Russian bast shoes , modern ones are fastened with a strap.

The main advantage of opanki is that they let air through in the heat.

• The patron saint of the Opanchars is Saint Sava , one of the most revered Serbian saints.
• According to the Guinness Book of Records, the largest openak was made in 2011 by the opanchar Slavko Strugarevich from the city of Vrnyachka Banya , the size of the openak was 3.2 meters, and the weight was 222 kg ^[6] . The smallest one was made by Drakce Jevtich (real name is Miodrag), its size is 1 cm. Also Jevtich broke the record of Strugarevich, after two months he made an opaque with a volume of 7.5 m, the cost of which amounted to 1200 euros. ^[2]
• The famous Serbian proverb reads: “Elek, antería and Opanzi, by that volume I know Srbiјantsi”. Yelek is a sleeveless bodice, which is part of a women's suit, and anteria (anterija) is a caftan or short jacket.
• In Bulgarian, the word “tsarvul”, along with its basic meaning, also means a peasant, a person unfamiliar with urban culture ^[7] (cf. Russian “bast shoe” - an illiterate, stupid person ^[8] ).
• Since October 2015, there is a museum of opachism in Rakovica ^{[9] [10]} .
• There is a legend that the Austrians, after observing the Montenegrins and their opanki, decided to dress one unit of their mountain shooters in opanki. But not even a day had passed since the idea was abandoned, because valiant shooters have become insignificant, and you need to have thick socks or feet with tanned soles for opanki with a soft sole, which is achieved only in barefoot childhood and adolescence in the mountains ^[5] .
• The word opanki is present in the Czech language ( Czech opánky, singular - opánek ) and has the meaning “sandals, sandals”

• Pistons
• Bast shoes
• Tsaruhi
• Opinch (Moldavian leather shoes)