A nonvolatile semiconductor memory apparatus 25 comprises a semiconductor substrate 11, a lower-layer wire 12 formed on the semiconductor substrate 11, an upper-layer wire 20 formed above the lower-layer wire 12 to cross the lower-layer wire 12, an interlayer insulating film 13 provided between the lower-layer wire 12 and the upper-layer wire 20, and a resistance variable layer 15 which is embedded in a contact hole 14 formed in the interlayer insulating film 13 and is electrically connected to the lower-layer wire 12 and the upper-layer wire 20. The upper-layer wire 20 includes at least two layers which are a lowermost layer 21 made of an electrically-conductive material having a hydrogen barrier property and an electric conductor layer 22 having a specific resistance which is lower than a specific resistance of the lowermost layer 21.