Madonna spends her 66th birthday in Italy with alleged boyfriend Akeem Morris

Madonna celebrated her birthday in Pompeii, Italy with friends and family – as well as with local young people who took part in an art initiative she supported.

The Queen of Pop celebrated her 66th birthday on Friday, August 16, spending the evening with members of Sogno di Volare (or “Dream of Flying”), a project that allows local youth to take part in classical performances in the ancient theater of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, according to a press release.

The singer arrived at the archaeological site late Friday night with a group of about 30 people – including her rumored boyfriend, soccer player Akeem Morris, and two of her daughters, 11-year-old twins Estere and Stella – and was met by a crowd of adoring fans, sources told PEOPLE.

Madonna also celebrated her 66th birthday on Instagram, where she posted glamorous photos of herself, her twins, and a topless Morris, captioning the post: “Back in Italy…🇮🇹 Happy birthday to ME 🦁✨🎂🥂🇮🇹♥️.”

On Friday, Madonna and her group arrived for the performance shortly after 10:30 p.m. local time. Fans had been waiting since 6 p.m., another insider said. The crowd of admirers, which numbered up to 200 people, sang some of the pop icon’s songs and danced before she arrived.

At the historic site, the park’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, took the pop superstar and her loved ones on a guided tour, which was interspersed with performances, the press release said.

A choir of teenagers and young children involved in the “Dream of Flying” project financed by Madonna sang for the star in Italian, Neapolitan and English.

The aim of the youth initiative, which Madonna has fully funded through her Ray of Light Foundation until 2025, is to involve the local community in the cultural life of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, a World Heritage Site.

“The ‘Dream of Flying’ project, so generously supported by Madonna, is of strategic importance for Pompei because it addresses the people of this wonderful and complex area, especially young people, making them protagonists of an experience with which we wanted to show that art and culture can really change our lives,” Zuchtriegel said in the press release.

The site director also stated that he wanted to “sincerely thank Madonna for her generosity, vision and humanity, which will be a great source of inspiration for our further development” and thanked her for the “wonderful gift she gave us for her birthday.”

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Madonna was first spotted in Italy on August 16 during her birthday visit to Morris, with whom she sparked rumors of a romance in July 2024.

The star was seen arriving in a boat at a remote destination in Portofino, which is reportedly the private estate of Dolce & Gabbana, according to the Italian press.

Although twins Estere and Stella accompanied her and Morris on their tour of Pompeii, the star’s other four children – Lourdes, 27, Rocco, 24, David, 18, and Mercy, 18 – did not appear to be accompanying them.