The river Lopatna is one of the main tributaries of the Cricovul Sărat river which leads to a depression in the hills east of Teleajen between Matița to Cărbunești. These villages were out of the way of the Transylvanian trade routes, but had a salt mining industry. More than half of the villages are documented during the 15th to 17th centuries by the various rulers of Țara Româneasca, and were free villages, handed down from their elders. However, royal possession through sale of confiscation or ownership by the monasteries led to the villagers paying their dues. From the 18th century the arrival of many Transylvanian shepherds changed the population structure and turned the forests to grazing lands.^[1]