Madonna views Western Wall

Madonna has paid a visit to Judaism's sacred Western Wall during a spiritual journey to the Holy Land.

14:59 19 September 2004

Madonna has paid a visit to Judaism's sacred Western Wall during a spiritual journey to the Holy Land.

Photographed near the sacred site, Madonna, raised as a Roman Catholic, stayed in her car in Jerusalem's Old City in the early hours of Sunday before leaving under heavy security.

The pop star, who has newly found a faith in the Jewish faith Kabbalah, is embarking on a five-day trip to the Holy Land and will joined about 2,000 fellow believers from the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Centre to celebrate the start of the Jewish New Year.

But the trip has already been caught up in controversy after Madonna's bodyguards got into a brawl with photographers at her Tel Aviv hotel last week.

The singer, who wears a Kabbalah red string on her wrist, has said she is serious about her belief in the Jewish faith and has dismissed accusations that it is all a publicity stunt to raise her celebrity status.

Indeed, the visit has been marred by some protests by locals who claim that the star has no rights in visiting the sacred site.