We report on a recent Chandra ACIS-S observation of the Circinus galaxy .
These observations confirm that the nuclear spectrum results from reflection of a hard X-ray continuum by “ neutral ” matter .
The nuclear X-ray emission is extended by \sim 60 pc in the general direction of the optical “ ionization cone ” .
An image in the Fe K \alpha line has been made and shows that this emission extends up to 200 pc from the nucleus .
There is also large-scale X-ray emission both along and perpendicular to the galaxy disk .
Thermal plasma models for this extended gas indicate temperatures kT \sim 0.6 keV , though cooler photoionized gas is also possible .
The X-ray emission from gas in the disk is probably associated with the starburst ring of radius 150 – 250 pc .
The gas extending \sim 600 pc perpendicular to the disk is closely correlated with the high-excitation optical-line emission .
In addition to its soft X-ray emission , we tentatively detect a hard component from the gas above the plane ; this hard emission may represent nuclear X-rays scattered into our line of sight by electrons in the outflowing wind .
Ten compact sources are found in the central kpc of the galaxy .
The most luminous has an X-ray luminosity of \simeq 10 ^ { 40 } erg s ^ { -1 } and seems to be an X-ray binary in the Circinus galaxy with a black-hole mass exceeding 80 M _ { \odot } .