Daniel's account of
Jerusalem is descriptive and accurate. His observant and detailed record of Palestine is one of the most valuable medieval documents that exist. Daniel had some knowledge of both Greek and Latin and so was able to use interpreters. He writes,
It is impossible to come to know all the holy places without guides and interpreters. He writes of a holy man of great learning, well advanced in years, who had lived in the Galilee for thirty years and had accompanied him in Palestine, however he made some major mistakes in topography and history. Daniel visited about sixty places in the area. While Daniel was not the first traveller to leave the Rus, his travels were the first which there are written records of. There were warriors, merchants, and earlier pilgrims who had travelled from the
Kievan Rus' to the outside world before the twelfth century; however, none left written records that have come down to the present day. Daniel was one of the first European travellers to travel long distances on foot and keep a written account of his travels – a
travelog. Daniel's narratives are also important in the history of the
Old East Slavic language and in the study of
ritual and
liturgy of the time (i.e. description of the Easter services in Jerusalem and the Descent of the
Holy Fire). ==Manuscripts==