Athens Prefecture

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the 2005 contest with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the contest was held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, and consisted of a semi-final on 18 May, and a final on 20 May 2006. The two live shows were presented by American television personality Maria Menounos and former Greek contestant Sakis Rouvas.Thirty-seven countries participated in the contest. Armenia took part for the first time this year. Meanwhile, Austria, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro announced their non-participations in the contest for various reasons. Serbia and Montenegro had intended to participate, however, due to a scandal in the national selection, tensions were caused between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. Despite this, the nation did retain voting rights for the contest. The winner was Finland with the heavy metal-song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", performed by Lordi and written by lead singer Mr. Lordi a.k.a. Tomi Petteri Putaansuu. This was Finland's first victory in the contest - and first top five placing - in 45 years of participation, the longest time a country had competed without a win at that point. It was also the first ever hard rock song to win the contest, as well as the first band to win since 1997. Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Sweden rounded out the top five. Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved their best result in their Eurovision history. Further down the table, Lithuania also achieved their best result to date, finishing sixth. Of the "Big Four" countries Germany placed the highest, finishing joint fourteenth (with Norway). The contest saw the 1,000th song performed in the contest, when Ireland's Brian Kennedy performed "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" in the semi-final.

Philopappou or Filopappou (Greek: Φιλοπάππου pronounced [fi.loˈpa.pu]) is a small neighborhood of Athens, Greece south of the Philopappos Monument, from which it takes its name.

Coele or Koile (Ancient Greek: Κοίλη or Κοιλή) was a deme of ancient Attica, originally of the phyle of Hippothontis, and between 307/6 BCE and 201/200 BCE of Demetrias, sending three delegates to the Boule. It was located partially inside and partially outside the Themistoclean Wall. The most important monuments were the tomb of Cimon Coalemos (together with his horses, winners of the Olympics) and of the historian Thucydides. Following these sources, many historians thought that the deme was, at least in part, outside the city walls, since Cicero had written that it was illegal to bury the dead inside the walls. However, archaeological discoveries have shown that only a small part of the deme, that containing the tombs, developed outside the walls. The deme had its own agora. In the Hellenistic period a wall was built to reinforce the defenses of the city through the deme, which was abandoned and used, in Roman times, as a cemetery. The site of Coele is in southwest of the Pnyx.

Asyrmatos (Greek: Ασύρματος pronounced [aˈsiɾ.ma.tos]) or Attaliotika (Greek: Ατταλιώτικα pronounced [a.taˈʎo.ti.ka]) is a neighborhood of Athens, Greece. It is located in the west slopes of Philopappos Hill, next to Ano Petralona district. It is technically part of Petralona. Asyrmatos was named after a transmitting antenna of Greek Navy (asyrmatos being the Greek word for 'wireless'). This area was an old quarry where refugees from Asia Minor were settled, after the Asia Minor Disaster. Most of the refugees came from Attaleia, so the other name for this district is Attaliotika. The new settlement was built with rough and makeshift materials, giving it a characteristic slum-like appearance. During the Dekemvriana in 1944, the navy school and transmitting antenna were burnt down, leading the government to decide to accommodate the refugees in the old navy school facilities, with the building of stone houses and a block of flats.Asyrmatos was used as natural scenery for the notable Greek neorealistic film Synoikia To Oneiro. The film was censored by the Greek authorities of the 1960s for depicting images of poverty and misery within Athens.

The siege of Athens lasted through 287 BC when the city was put under siege by King Demetrius I of Macedon. Athens revolted in that year against Demetrius' rule and elected Olympiodorus as strategos. Olympiodorus raised a force among the Athenian citizens, including old men and children, and attacked the Macedonian garrison that had retreated to the fort at the Mouseion Hill which he took with the loss of just 13 of his men. On receiving news of the revolt Demetrius gathered forces from the cities he still held and put Athens under siege. The Athenians sent the philosopher Crates to negotiate with Demetrius. In the treaty signed Demetrius received some fortresses in Attica but Athens was freed from a Macedonian garrison. The Athenians resisted, but asked for help from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. Pyrrhus arrived with his army behind Demetrius, forcing him to retreat. Following the victory, Pyrrhus was welcomed into the city and celebrated.

The Philopappos Monument (Greek: Μνημείο Φιλοπάππου, Mnimío Philopáppou, [mniˈmio filoˈpapu]) is an ancient Greek mausoleum and monument dedicated to Gaius Julius Antiochus Epiphanes Philopappos or Philopappus, (Greek: Γάιος Ιούλιος Αντίοχος Επιφανής Φιλόπαππος, 65–116 AD), a prince from the Kingdom of Commagene. It is located on Mouseion Hill in Athens, Greece, southwest of the Acropolis.

The city of Athens (Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai [a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯]; Modern Greek: Αθήναι Athine [a.ˈθi.ne̞] or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα Athina [a.'θi.na]) during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. In the classical period, Athens was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Aristophanes, Sophocles, and many other prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization, and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then-known European continent.

The Pnyx (; Ancient Greek: Πνύξ [pnýks]; Greek: Πνύκα, Pnyka) is a hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC (Fifth-century Athens), the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus making the hill one of the earliest and most important sites in the creation of democracy. The Pnyx is located less than 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the Acropolis and 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) south-west of the Syntagma Square in the centre of Athens.

Koukaki (Greek: Κουκάκι or Κουκάκη, pronounced [kuˈkaci]) is a southeast neighbourhood of Athens, Greece.

Grigoris Lamprakis Stadium is a public multi-use stadium in Kallithea, Athens, Greece. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Athens Kallithea FC. The stadium was built in 1970 and currently has a seating capacity of 6,300.

The National Observatory of Athens (NOA; Greek: Εθνικό Αστεροσκοπείο Αθηνών) is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific research institute built after Greece became independent in 1829, and one of the oldest research institutes in Southern Europe.

Petralona (Greek: Πετράλωνα, pronounced [peˈtɾa.lo.na]) is a neighborhood of Athens, Greece. Athenians further subdivide the area into Ano (upper) Petralona or Kato (Lower) Petralona, where Ano Petralona is the area between the Philopappos Hill and the railway and Kato Petralona the area between the railway and Piraeus Street. Sometimes as part of Ano Petralona refers and the small neighbourhood Assyrmatos.