The state and cultural power of Kartli in the Classical period was one of the major factors in the development of the Georgian people. It was at that time when a fairly stable East Georgian (Kart) nationality took shape, which subsequently acted as a link in the creation of the Georgian nation. This process was completed gradually as the Christian Church spread throughout Georgia and a single Georgian feudal state emerged.  

Christianity was proclaimed the state religion of Georgia in the 330s. This marked the start of a flourishing of the arts and letters. Members of the high society of Kartli and Egrisi were well acquainted with the literatures and philosophies of the East and the West. Among them were eminent scholar-philosophers Peter of the Iberian and Loane the Laz in the fifth century. Centers of culture and enlightenment also existed in Georgia, some being of international significance. In the fourth century, a school of rhetoric and philosophy operated not far from the town of Phasis, or modern Poti. Along with representatives of the local nobility, students from abroad were also taught at the school. It was the alma mater of the famous Greek philosopher and rhetorician Themistius, who said that his father Eugenius also learned wisdom at that school. 

Christianity destroyed Old Georgian literature and began to create a literature of its own, most of which was translated from Greek and Syrian originals. The oldest books translated then were the Gospels and the Old Testament. Soon, original works, mostly hagiographies, appeared. The Old Georgian “Passion of Shushanik“ was written in the fifth century. Another such work by an anonymous author, “The Martyrdom of Evstate Mtsketeli”, passed down to us from the sixth century.  

Monuments of church architecture, as well as ruins of some secular buildings such as the fortress of Ujarma, have survived to this day. The basilica churches of Bolnisi and Urbnisi, dating from the fifth century, and the unique cruciform-domed Jvari church dating from the turn of the seventh century, near Mtskheta, are the most significant monuments of architecture. These monuments show the high level of architecture in Georgia.