Residency is located in old Lucknow near Gomti banks close to Begum Hazrat Mahal Park. The red brick ruins are peaceful nowadays, surrounded by lawns and flowerbeds, but thousands died during the months-long siege. The Residency has been maintained as it was at the time of the final relief, and the shattered walls are still scarred by cannon shot. The onsite museum includes the original buildings as scale models. The cemetery near St Mary's Church has 2,000 defenders buried on its grounds. The Residency is actually a group of buildings that were built in 1800 A.D. by the then Nawab of Oudh, Nawab Saadat Ali Khan. It is said that as many as 3,500 people sought shelter during the siege of Lucknow in 1857. The siege continued for more than 140 days.