The location of Madonna’s luxury gym in Rome has been revealed as the ex-Teatro Colosseo on Via Capo d’Africa, in the shadow of the Colosseum.

The three-storey Hard Candy Fitness centre is scheduled to open on 26 May but it is not believed that Madonna will not attend the opening; insiders say that she will likely visit in September instead.

The 1,200-sqm gym will be part of the Italian-American popstar’s Hard Candy global chain of luxury gyms and will be managed in partnership with Italian fitness firm Dabliu.

The gym’s venue is best known for housing the Teatro Colosseo until 2008 while a more recent transformation saw it hosting the now-dismantled “3-D Rewind Rome” interactive tour. The location, in the vicinity of the capital’s “gay street” at the Colosseum-end of Via S. Giovanni in Laterano, is unlikely a coincidence given Madonna’s popularity among the gay community.

The gym will offer fitness classes based on the "Addicted to Sweat" routines used by the Queen of Pop, as well as yoga studios, spaces for group training and a coffee bar.