  We present the first Chandra/ACIS imaging study of the circumnuclear region
of the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365. The X-ray emission is resolved into
point-like sources and complex, extended emission. The X-ray morphology of the
extended emission shows a biconical soft X-ray emission region extending ~5 kpc
in projection from the nucleus, coincident with the high excitation outflow
cones seen in optical emission lines particularly to the northwest. Harder
X-ray emission is detected from a kpc-diameter circumnuclear ring, coincident
with the star-forming ring prominent in the Spitzer mid-infrared images; this
X-ray emission is partially obscured by the central dust lane of NGC 1365.
Spectral fitting of spatially separated components indicates a thermal plasma
origin for the soft extended X-ray emission (kT=0.57 keV). Only a small amount
of this emission can be due to photoionization by the nuclear source. Detailed
comparison with [OIII]5007 observations shows the hot interstellar medium (ISM)
is spatially anticorrelated with the [OIII] emitting clouds and has thermal
pressures comparable to those of the [OIII] medium, suggesting that the hot ISM
acts as a confining medium for the cooler photoionized clouds. The abundance
ratios of the hot ISM are fully consistent with the theoretical values for
enrichment from Type II supernovae, suggesting that the hot ISM is a wind from
the starburst circumnuclear ring. X-ray emission from a ~450 pc long nuclear
radio jet is also detected to the southeast.
