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The discovery of flint tools, arrow- and spearheads, scrapers, and chipped stones confirm that the Colle della Tombola Hill has been an inhabited site since prehistoric times.
Bronze Age artifacts and Roman roof tiles with raised edges, found on the summit of Colle della Tombola Hill, confirm human settlements throughout history, and during the Middle Ages, when a castle was known to exist there.
Although no visible trace of the castle remains to this day, its presence is well-documented and connected to the medieval church of San Daniele, which was the first parish church in Colfosco, subject to archaeological campaigns in 1990 and 2010.
Further down, near the Piave River, Roman bridges confirm the passage of goods and armies traveling north on imperial roads towards Trento and Altino. In addition to the Castel of Collalto and the San Salvatore Castle, the castle on Colle della Tombola Hill was the third castle in the Susegana area. It was likely built over an earlier fortification, and hosted the Counts of Colfosco in the early Middle Ages, until its partial sale to the Municipality of Treviso in 1201.
One of its most notable residents was Sofia of Colfosco, heir to a great wealth and wife to Guecellone da Camino. Known as the Comitissa, Sofia openly supported the Guelph faction aligned with the Pope, whereas her husband sided with the Ghibellines. She passed away in 1175 and was buried in the Abbey of Follina, which she largely promoted during her life.
Nicolò Mauro (1533–1612) wrote about the castle on its Genealogie Trevigiane, stating, “On the hills over the San Salvatore castle, the remains of a castle are visible; this castle was named after the Colfosco hill where it was built.”
Physicist Giambattista Mondini (1638–1723) was a guest of the Count Basilio di Collalto; he remarked the extensive ruins he saw when visiting the area, calling it a significant and densely inhabited place.
The artist Giambattista Cima da Conegliano too, he depicted a castle resembling the Colfosco castle in his painting Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Louis of Toulouse, displayed at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice.
Born in Colfosco in May 1914, Riccardo Cenedese showed an artistic talent from an early age. Some records confirm that he attended the Scuola di Pittura e Scultura [School of Painting and Sculpture] in Venice for three years, and he was a regular apprentice at Riccardo Granzotto’s workshop, an artist from Santa Lucia di Piave later beatified as Brother Claudio in 1994.
Riccardo Cenedese led a turbulent life, which included an imprisonment in an English concentration camp during the African Campaign. After his return home, he worked both on constructions and on his passion for arts. He decorated chapels, churches, and villas and created bronze sculptures for gardens and cemeteries.
Riccardo Cenedese left several works of art, both visual and sculptural. His most notable works include the altar dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ in the parish church of San Daniele, and an extraordinary plaster sculpture of the patron saint of Colfosco with a roaring lion at his feet.
However, his masterpiece is the bronze statue installed close to the Cathedral of Vittorio Veneto, which portraits the Pope John Paul I. In 2022, his family commissioned the publication of a photographic book celebrating Riccardo Cenedese and his artworks.