The Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street was designed by Christopher Wren and completed in 1669, commissioned by the University of Oxford as a venue for its ceremonies and public lectures — which had previously been held in the University Church of St Mary, where they were regularly disrupted. It is still used today for degree ceremonies, concerts, and lectures, and is one of the finer pieces of 17th-century architecture in Britain.
The theatre is open to visitors outside of events, and the cupola at the top offers one of the best views across the Oxford skyline — across the rooftops to the Radcliffe Camera, the Bodleian, and the spires of the city's churches. The D-shaped building is Roman in inspiration, loosely modelled on the Theatre of Marcellus in Rome, and the painted ceiling depicts an allegory of Truth descending from the heavens, surrounded by the Arts and Sciences. The thirteen grotesque stone heads along the fence outside — a modern replacement of the originals — are known as the "Emperors' Heads."