In the mid-11th century Bagrat IV invited Giorgi Mtatsmindeli, a translator, writer, historian and teacher famous in the East, who became tutor to Georgia's King David the Builder. Martvili was home to men of letters and enlighteners who carried Georgian spirituality: Giorgi Chkondideli; the famous calligrapher and copyist Svimon Chkondideli; the hymnographer Ioane Minchkhi; Anton Chkondideli (a contemporary of Tamar, who translated the book "Saakimio"), and others.