The former academy is a spacious white building built on a square plan with a roomy yard inside. As a result of successive modifications carried out in the 18th and the 19th centuries the building was deprived of its parapets, portals and window frames whereas the arcades which surrounded the yard were walled up. The academy was opened on 15 March 1595 and although it was the third Polish higher education school (the first two being the universities in Krakow and Vilnius) the level of education offered by the academy was higher than in the other two. It was the apple of Jan Zamoyski’s eye had a very good reputation not only in Poland but also in Great Britain, France and Germany. The activity of the academy was closely connected with the activity of the printing house. Unfortunately, the glory days of the academy did not last long. It started to fall into decline in the middle of the 17th century to be finally closed down by Austrian authorities in 1784. Austrians established the Royal Secondary School in the building; the name of the school was later changed to The Zamoyski Family Province School. After Zamość was captured by the troops of the Duchy of Warsaw, the building housed barracks. Soldiers remained in the building till the time when the fortress was closed down permanently in 1866. Then the building housed a school again. During the Nazi occupation of Poland the military police had their seat in the academy. At present the former academy houses three schools: The Jan Zamoyski Secondary School of General Education (since 1916), The Szymon Szymonowicz State Higher Vocational School and Centre for Continuing Education.
