Provided are an apparatus and method for searching multimedia data based on metadata. The apparatus for searching multimedia data includes: a mapping information storing unit for storing and managing mapping information between a Moving Picture Experts Group 7 (MPEG-7) query attribute and an MPEG-7 metadata property; and a query attribute mapping unit for acquiring the MPEG-7 metadata property to be mapped with the MPEG-7 query attribute according to a user query based on the mapping information.