The territory of Mtskheta was settled from the 3rd millennium BC, and at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC Mtskheta coalesced into a large town. Tradition ascribes its founding to Mtskhetos, grandson of the biblical Noah and son of Kartlos, the mythical ancestor of the Georgians. From the 4th–3rd centuries BC until the beginning of the 6th century AD Mtskheta was the center of the kingdom of Kartli (Iberia). The history of Christianity in Georgia begins from Mtskheta, and the greatest of Christian relics — the Robe of the Lord — is buried here. By decision of the Georgian Patriarchate, Mtskheta's status as a holy city was restored. It is declared a museum-city and inscribed on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage list.