The former Zamość Academy

The Zamość Academy, located in an old city which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was founded in 1594 by Jan Zamoyski, chancellor to the Polish crown, to educate the sons of the local nobility. In addition to faculties of law and medicine, there was also a faculty of philosophy, and it was this secular orientation that set the academy apart from comparable institutions. After Zamoyski's death, the Academy faded into insignificance and was ultimately unable to survive in spite of several efforts at reform. It was finally closed in 1784, and the building was converted into barracks in the 19th century. Since 1916, it has been the location of a secondary school.

Courtyard of the former Zamość Academy, colour photograph, 2009, photographer: MaKa; source: Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zamo%C5%9B%C4%87_Academy_court.JPG?uselang=de Creative Commons License Attribution – Sharealike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0), http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.de.