Going down into the valley, past the monastery of San Damiano, we encounter a small stream called Rivo Torto, which flows through a large flat area. Here lies the Sacro Tugurio, the modest shelter where Francis chose to live for about three years, between 1208 and 1210, with the first community of only 12 monks, the same with which he went to Rome in 1209 to ask Pope Innocent III's approval of the first Rule. The humble stone house in view, with a tiled roof, was repeatedly transformed over time and today presents itself as a small low-rise building, below street level, consisting of three rooms. The middle one is used as a chapel, while two two at the side are two cells, which is accessed via small doors. The one on the right is called the bed of St. Francis and in there is kept a wooden statue of St. Francis sleeping; the left one is called fire, or kitchen. Between 1210 and 1211, when the monks grew in numbers, the community moved to the church of the Portiuncula used by the Benedictines of Mount Subasio. Today the Sacro Tugurio is kept within the Sanctuary of Rivotorto. A first large church, to contain it and a convent were built between the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. In 1832, a major earthquake destroyed much of the two buildings. The current sanctuary in neo-Gothic style dates back to 1854.