  We present the results of a Chandra soft X-ray observation of the spectacular
ionization cone in the nearby Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 5252. As almost invariably
observed in obscured AGN, the soft X-ray emission exhibits a remarkable
morphological concidence with the cone ionized gas as traced by HST O[III]
images. Energy-resolved images and high-resolution spectroscopy suggest that
the X-ray emitting gas is photoionized by the AGN, at least on scales as large
as the innermost gas and stellar ring (<3 kpc). Assuming that the whole cone is
photoionized by the AGN, we reconstruct the history of the active nucles in the
last 100000 years.
