Disclosed is an apparatus and method for retrieving multimedia contents represented in a Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) 7 by transforming a user query into an MPEG-7 query format. The method for retrieving multimedia contents includes: representing a user query by using an indicator indicating a specific region of a Moving Picture Experts Group 7 (MPEG-7) document and a reference for referring to the indicator; analyzing a meaning of the user query represented by using the indicator and the reference to thereby produce an analysis result; and retrieving multimedia contents according to the analysis result. The present research can satisfy more than two retrieval conditions within the same structure in an MPEG-7 query format and it can also clearly represent that two different MPEG-7 documents are referred to. Since the meaning of a user query is analyzed accurately during retrieval process, it is possible to precisely retrieve multimedia contents.