In the early 1890s, the residents of the village of Arzgir decided that in addition to the existing Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, a new stone church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord and Saint Nicholas should be built. This decision was communicated to Priest Alexander Lavrov, who was to inform Archbishop Agafodor of the Caucasus and Stavropol.

Soon, the Arzgir community received permission to build, and in May 1896, Alexander Lavrov notified Archbishop Agafodor about the laying of the new church on the northern side of the village. Construction began on May 18 at the consecrated site. The church, designed by architect Grigory Pavlovich Kuskov, was built from white shell stone, which is why it was popularly called the White Church. The consecration took place on December 16, 1901, and the next day, a Divine Liturgy and procession were held in the newly built church.

The village of Arzgir was divided by the Chogray River, and during floods, communication between its parts was interrupted. Therefore, when the Spaso-Transfiguration Cathedral was built on the northern side, the residents of the southern side appealed to the archbishop for permission to construct a church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They decided to raise funds for the construction by selling grain reserves, for which peasants Terenty Nalivko and Semyon Mulenko were chosen. By 1900, the community had accumulated 49 thousand rubles and 50 thousand bricks. In 1903, the foundation of the new church was laid, which was completed five years later. The consecration took place on December 10, 1908, which Priest Alexander Bitkin reported to Archbishop Agafodor. The temporary iconostasis was taken from the old church, and a new one was planned to be installed on September 1, 1909.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built of red bricks, while the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and Saint Nicholas was made of white shell stone, which is why they were called the Red and White Churches. Both churches stood until the 1930s.