The Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb

Zagreb

Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 is the home of the oldest high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

s (a gymnasium

Gymnasium (school)

A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...

, to be precise) in Croatia and southeastern Europe. It was founded by the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 in 1607 and hasn't stopped working since. In its first year of work, it had 260 students, and it operated on the basis of the Jesuit programme "Ratio atque institutio studiorum societatis Jesu".

Programme

The programme is based on merging the classical education enriched with Christian moral principles. During the communist Yugoslav

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 regime, in 1977 the name "gymnasium" was banned and the school became the Educational Language Centre, but it preserved its spirit and the classical program (both Latin and Greek language).

Damage during the war

The school was bombed on May 2, 1995 during the bombing of Zagreb in the Croatian War of Independence

Croatian War of Independence

The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...

. The damage was soon repaired and the school resumed its work.

400th Anniversary

During the 2006/2007 school year, the school is celebrating its 400th year anniversary with a series of educational, historical, and entertaining festivities which include numerous symposia and speeches, but also big student manifestations which included charity rock concerts, 3 Greek plays, open days and many others.