ROME, Aug 17 (Bernama-dpa) -- US pop icon Madonna said she would cover the costs of a theatre project for youths and children from Pompeii for a year during her visit to the area to mark her 66th birthday, according to the Archaeological Park on Saturday, reported German news agency (dpa).
Madonna visited the excavation site of the buried Roman city in southern Italy on Friday evening.
The annual budget for the project amounts to €250,000 (US$275,000).
On her birthday evening, Madonna was first given a tour by the German director of the archaeological site, Gabriel Zuchtriegel. The city was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
She then met the project group Sogno di Volare ("I Dream of Flying"), which performed a classical play at the Teatro Grande in Pompeii.
Sogno di Volare is supported by the Archaeological Park as it seeks to involve the local population in the cultural life of the UNESCO site.
It aims to engage, support and promote young people from the region and around Pompeii in the southern Italian region of Campania, which is struggling with a relatively high school dropout rate, youth unemployment and migration.
Madonna has been in Italy for a week, starting with a trip to Portofino as a guest of the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of the label Dolce & Gabbana.
Madonna, whose ancestors come from the Adriatic region of Abruzzo and emigrated to the US, has often vacationed in Italy.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
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