  We performed a detailed analysis of the Chandra and HST images of the Seyfert
2 galaxy, NGC7582. The dust lane, as mapped by the HST NIR and optical images,
strongly influences the morphology of the soft X-ray emission, being spatially
coincident with excess of X-ray absorption. Two 'hot spots', i.e. regions where
emission from higher ionization stages of O and Ne is stronger, are observed in
the soft X-ray image. They can be tracers of variations of the ionization
parameter, even if, at least for one of them, absorption may be the dominant
effect. The positions of the `hot spots' suggest that they are not affected by
the star-formation regions observed with HST, being located far away from them.
Therefore, the starburst does not seem to play an important role in the
photoionization of the soft X-ray emitting gas. The resulting picture is
consistent with modified unification scenarios, where the Compton-thick torus
coexists with a large-scale Compton-thin material associated with the dust lane
and circumnuclear gas is photoionized by the AGN along torus-free lines of
sight.
