The 15th-century Georgian chronicle of the dukes of Ksani ascribes the foundation of the monastery to the family's legendary 6th-century ancestor Rostom, allegedly a contemporary of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. The monastery is historically better documented from the early 14th century, when generations of the dukes of Ksani made donations to it. The monastery was destroyed during Timur's invasions of Georgia in 1400 and rebuilt and frescoed by Grigol Bandaisdze. In 1470, the monastery was further renovated by the duke Shalva, who also built a defensive wall with a bell-tower on it. Shanshe, Duke of Ksani, added further fortifications, turning it into his castle. In 1759, the church was built de novo as the Monastery of St. Theodore Tyron by the duke David and his mother Ketevan. The event is commemorated in a Georgian "asomtavruli" inscription of the icon of the Theotokos from Largvisi. This still-extant edifice, which replaced the older domeless one, had a completely new layout.