Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cooling a steel strip in a continuous annealing furnace, wherein the steel strip is continuously conveyed through a heating zone, a soaking zone, and, occasionally, an overaging zone and a secondary cooling zone, and cooling of the steel strip is carried out by roll-cooling, in which the steel strip is brought into contact with and is turned around a rotatable roll which is continuously cooled by a cooling medium. The present invention is characterized in that a roll comprising a roll shaft (12) and a shrinkage-fitted roll sheath (11) fixed to the roll shaft (12) is used for roll-cooling and, further, in that the cooling medium is circulated around the roll shaft through a cooling medium-circulating passage (15) which is formed on at least the inner surface of said roll sheath or the outer surface of said roll shaft (12) or both, and is then withdrawn from the roll shaft (12).