A vacuum processing apparatus including a processing chamber for processing a sample to be processed, a cooling chamber for cooling the high-temperature sample processed in the processing chamber, and a vacuum transfer chamber for establishing a connection between the processing chamber and the cooling chamber, a vacuum transfer robot equipped inside the vacuum transfer chamber, wherein the cooling chamber includes a gas-exhausting unit for reducing pressure inside the cooling chamber, a gas-supplying unit for supplying a gas into the cooling chamber, a pressure-controlling unit for controlling the pressure inside the cooling chamber, a supporting unit for supporting the high-temperature sample, and a mounting stage for proximity-holding the sample supported by the supporting unit, the mounting stage having a temperature-adjusting unit for adjusting the temperature of surface of the mounting stage into a temperature which is capable of cooling the high-temperature sample, the supporting unit having an ascending/descending-speed varying unit.