Since we were in the neighborhood, we walked around the area a bit, which is elegant but a bit soulless. From the greatness of being the world's capital, Rome fell into a pretty big hole. During the middle ages, only a few thousand people lived among the empire's ruins, including, of course, the Pope. As Europe emerged from this mess and the Popes began reasserting their imperial powers, Rome became a boomtown once again. Quirinale epitomized this above all other parts of Rome. The hill was actually referred to as horsehead hill (in Italian of course) because for many centuries the hill was covered with dirt, and only two horse heads poked out, part of an abandoned temple complex buried deep below the earth. When the popes moved into the Quirinale palace, though, the area became the new It address. The palaces of cardinals and nobles, all designed in the latest Renaissance style, soon covered the hill, and its wide streets and grand buildings still lend the area a prosperous air.