His father, Chordvaneli, had been in the suite of the Georgian prince Ashot II Kuropalates who had paid a visit to the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos in Constantinople in c. 950.

He resigned his position as a general of the Georgian prince David III of Tao in c. 963 and, under the name of Ioane (Ioannis, or John), retired to Athanasius’ Lavra on Mount Athos.

In 976, a rebellion led by Bardas Skleros broke out in the Asian provinces of the Byzantine Empire, the greatest upheaval of the emperor Basil II’s early reign.

In reward for their support, David was awarded with the lifetime stewardship of the extensive lands in northeastern Anatolia, while John-Tornike was conferred with the title synkellos (assistant to the patriarch of Constantinople).

The new monastic house, destined to become a vibrant center of the Georgian Orthodox culture, was jointly run by John-Tornike as ktetor (founder) and his friend John the Iberian as hegoumenos (abbot).