Our sandals are hancrafted in Chania, Crete. Since it’s a family business, you can choose the color as well as the leather of your preference.
Pherenike sandals are high quality leather sandals combining comfort with style. Their design is inspired by the Attic Greek name Φερενίκη Pherenikē, which means “bearer of victory”. The sandals are 100% handcrafted in our family business with “meraki”* in the island of Crete – Greece, from durable leather, tanned without the use of chemicals. This pair of sandals are easily matched with all clothes!
Upper Material: | Leather | |
Sole Material: | Rubber | |
Heel Height: | 1.5 cm | |
Linining & Inner Sole: | Leather | |
Available leather styles: | Nubuck, Natural, Metal, Stamped |
Women’s Shoe Size Chart | ||||
US | Europe | UK | Inches | CM |
5 | 35 | 2.5 | 9.05 | 23 |
6 | 36 | 3.5 | 9.37 | 23.8 |
6.5 | 37 | 4 | 9.64 | 24.5 |
7.5 | 38 | 5 | 9.84 | 25 |
8.5 | 39 | 6 | 10.07 | 25.6 |
9 | 40 | 6.5 | 10.27 | 26.1 |
10 | 41 | 7.5 | 10.59 | 26.9 |
11 | 42 | 8.5 | 10.98 | 27.9 |
How to find the correct footwear size
1. Stand on a piece of paper and mark the distance from your longest toe to the heel end.
2. Measure the distance between these two marks to find out your foot length.
3. Repeat the same procedure also for the other foot (right and left foot are hardly ever the same in lenght. Please, always consider the longest one).
4. Don’t forget to save some additional room on the toe area.
Pherenike was born on the island of Rhodes, located in the Aegean Sea. She was a girl in a family of accomplished male athletes. Her father, Diagoras, was a champion Olympic boxer from the games of 464 BCE Her brothers were also champion boxers, as well as prevailing champions in the Pancration. Because women were not permitted to participate in sports in any way, shape, or form (save for the Spartans), Pherenike was relegated to cheerleader (though she couldn’t even do that from the sidelines!).
Pherenike was married to Callianax, and they had 2 sons together. The two boys showed early on that they had inherited great athletic potential from their mother’s family. Callianax trained the boys to be champions, and when their older son became a champion boxer, it seemed that the family athletic legacy would continue.
Unfortunately, Callianax died, leaving Pherenike overcome with grief and disappointment over the fate of her sons’ athletic careers. Her younger son, Pisodorus, had been training for the next Olympic games, after all. But Pherenike came from a family of fighters. She would not let the technicality of her gender ruin her son’s chance for glory. So, she decided to become his trainer.
The rules of the ancient Olympic games required both the trainers and the athletes to live in the Olympic village for a period prior to the games. So, in 388 BCE, Pherenike donned the long trainer’s robe, and then likely disguised her face in some way in order to look more masculine. She did this to protect her own life. Women caught breaking the strict rules of athletics in ancient Greece were swiftly hurled over the cliffs of Mount Typaeum!
In his match, Pisodorus did his family proud, and won Olympic laurels. Pherenike, lost in the excitement of the moment, leapt into the ring to congratulate her son. Because undergarments were not part of the ancient Greek wardrobe, this hasty maneuver revealed Pherenike’s true identity to everyone.
Pherenike got lucky, though. Her pedigree as a member of such a famous athletic dynasty softened the hearts of the judges, and spared her life. The judges did, however, pass a new law that was effective from that point forward. All trainers and competitors in the athletic games were to be naked.
After that, Pherenike forever became known as Callipatira, Greek for “Mrs. Good Father”, for her determination that her boys got the glory and recognition that she knew was owed them.
Source: Ancient History Encyclopedia
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