On the ground floor of the Palazzo di Don Diego de Mendoza is the "Cantina della Disfida" where, in 1503, 13 Italian knights confronted 13 French knights following the challenged issued by the Frenchman Guy la Motte who had accused them of cowardice during a banquet. The Italians' victory over the representatives of a powerful nation, at a time when Italy was just a mosaic of small states, became the symbol of Italian patriotism, and Ettore Fieramosca, their captain, became a national hero.