The secondary school called the Volhynian Gymnasium in Krzemieniec was founded in 1805 by Tadeusz Czacki, with an important contribution of Hugo Kołłątaj. In 1819 the school gained the status of a higher-level secondary school (Pol.: liceum) and since then it has been known as the Krzemieniec Lyceum. The school played an invaluable role in the history of Polish education, making Krzemieniec the educational and cultural capital of Volhynia.

The beginnings of the Volhynian Gymnasium
In 1803 Tadeusz Czacki was appointed school inspector in the Volhynia, Podolia and Kiev Provinces of the Russian Empire. While performing this function, he became aware of the extremely low standard of teaching in the schools which he supervised. He quickly came to the conclusion that a modern, high quality educational institution should be established in Volhynia.

He was a well-known politician from the times of pre-partition Poland, a scholar and bibliophile; he was also an efficient organizer, but the issues of pedagogy and organization of education were not his field. In the organization of a network of schools in the area under his supervision, and in particular in the establishment of the Volhynian Gymnasium, which was intended to become the hub of this network, he was greatly supported by Hugo Kołłątaj, who, just like Czacki, came from Volhynia (he was born on 1 April 1750 in Dederkały Wielkie near Krzemieniec). After the suppression of the Kościuszko Uprising Kołłątaj was arrested by the Austrian authorities and imprisoned for 8 years. After regaining freedom in 1802, he returned to Volhynia, where he started to collaborate with Czacki. While organizing the Volhynian Gymnasium he was responsible for developing the curriculum, whereas Czacki was responsible for the formal side of the undertaking, raising funds and presenting the issues of education in Volhynia to the public.

The program of education in Volhynian Gymnasium was planned for a maximum of 10 years (4 one-year classes and 3 two-year university-like courses). The curriculum was focused on languages (Polish, Russian, Latin, French and German), but it also included arithmetic, moral science and geography. The emphasis was not only on the high standard of learning, but also on the high moral stature of the students. The Volhynian Gymnasium was to create enlightened and responsible citizens.

Cykl kształcenia w Gimnazjum Wołyńskim został przewidziany na maksymalnie 10 lat (4 jednoroczne klasy oraz 3 dwuletnie kursy prowadzone na sposób uniwersytecki). W programie przeważało nauczanie języków (polskiego, rosyjskiego, łaciny, francuskiego i niemieckiego), poza tym wykładano również arytmetykę, naukę moralną i geografię powszechną. Nacisk kładziono nie tylko na jakość nauczania, lecz także na wysoki poziom moralny przyszłych absolwentów. Gimnazjum Wołyńskie miało za zadanie kształtować światłych i odpowiedzialnych obywateli.

The development of the school in the 19th century.
The subsequent success and fame of the Volhynian Gymnasium was determined by its excellent teaching staff, which included outstanding scholars, many of them university professors; among them were Józef Czech - a mathematician, the first director of the Gymnasium, Euzebiusz Słowacki and Joachim Lelewel. Also among the school's graduates there were many leading representatives of Polish intellectual life of the next generations, including Juliusz Słowacki, Stanisław Worcell and Ernest Malinowski.

In 1819, the school gained the status of a lyceum. However, as a result of reprisals after the November Uprising, its development was stopped. The Krzemieniec Lyceum was closed in August 1831. The school's valuable collections of art, numismatic items, plants etc. as well as a library of over 50,000 volumes were handed over to the newly established Saint Vladimir Royal University of Kiev (now the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev).

The school premises
The seat of the Volhynian Gymnasium was the former Jesuit college surrounding the Baroque church of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Stanislaus Kostka in Krzemieniec. Built in the years 1731-1745, the church is a single-aisle basilica with side chapels, a transept and a dome where the transept meets the nave. The construction of the school adjacent to it on the south lasted until 1753, and the monastery had not yet been completed in the 1770s, when the Jesuit order was dissolved. The church was then handed over to the parish. The Krzemieniec complex was designed by the architect Paweł Giżycki.

The premises of the Krzemieniec Lyceum comprised the Jesuit complex as well as the nearby Basilian monastery, and the whole was adapted according to the design of the architect Jakub Kubicki from Warsaw. After the November Uprising the school was closed and the church was taken over by the Orthodox Church. It was reclaimed in 1920, in the Second Republic of Poland, and again it functioned as a Catholic church during the interwar period. At that time, the Krzemieniec Lyceum was reactivated by the decree of Józef Piłsudski, and restored to its original location. After World War II, in the period when the the town was within the borders of the Soviet Union, the church was used as a sports hall, and later as a furniture store. Currently it is used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, while the college houses a primary and secondary school.