Adjacent to the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele is the Piazza Cavour, formerly called the Piazza della Cisterna from the old octagonal well of 1273 that still adorns it. On the left is the imposing Torre Pratellesi, originally the tower of the Palazzo Paltoncini in which the Podestà occasionally held his court in the first half of the thirteenth century. Opposite to it, is the tasteful little Gothic brick Palazzo Friani, a restored structure of the fourteenth century. Here is the tall, grass-grown Torre Cinatti, one of the most characteristic of the noble towers of the town. The two dismantled towers on the right are the remains of the palace of the Ardinghelli, in which the councils of the Commune met occasionally in the thirteenth century. At the corner of the Piazza is the Portone de' Beccie Cugnanesi, or Arco dei Talei, of the original circuit of walls before the end of the twelfth century, to the right of which is the picturesque Vicolo de' Becci, ending under a massive arch with one of those quaintly picturesque views that make the town an artistic delight at every turn. Between the Via San Matteo and the Piazza dell' Erbe are remains of a large palace, with two very tall twin towers. This appears to have been the Palazzo Salvucci,[191] the towers still showing traces of the fires kindled round them by the vengeful Ardinghelli. Opposite them, in the Via San Matteo, is the Torre Pettini. Thence we pass under a massive double arch, the Arco della Cancelleria or Portone di San Matteo, of the first circuit of walls. On our right are the Library and small Dante Museum, the latter inaugurated on the sixth centenary of Dante's embassy to the town. A little further on, the church of San Bartolo has a picturesque façade of the eleventh century. Beyond is the great palace tower of the Pesciolini (according to a quite unhistorical tradition once the residence of Desiderio, King of the Lombards), in the style of the fourteenth century. The basement of what was once a palace, on the left, has decorative frescoes of the school of Poccetti. At the Porta San Matteo, we turn down the little lane within the walls to the Piazza Sant' Agostino.