  VLT J- to M\p-band adaptive optics observations of the Circinus Galaxy on
parsec scales resolve a central bright Ks-band source with a FWHM size of 1.9
$\pm$ 0.6 pc. This source is only visible at wavelengths longward of 1.6 $\mu$m
and coincides in position with the peak of the [Si VII]~2.48 $\mu$m coronal
line emission. With respect to the peak of the central optical emission, the
source is shifted by $\sim$ 0.15\arcsec (2.8 pc) to the south-east. Indeed, it
defines the vertex of a fairly collimated beam which extends for $\sim$ 10 pc,
and which is seen in both continuum light shortward of 1.6 $\mu$m and in
H$\alpha$ line emission. The source also lies at the center of a $\sim$ 19 pc
size [Si VII] ionization {\it bicone}.
  Identifying this source as the nucleus of Circinus, its size is compatible
with a putative parsec-scale torus. Its spectral energy distribution,
characterized by a prominent narrow peak, is compatible with a dust temperature
of 300 K. Hotter dust within a 1 pc radius of the center is not detected. The
AGN luminosity required to heat this dust is in the range of X-ray luminosities
that have been measured toward the central source. This in turn supports the
existence of highly obscuring material, with column densities of $10^{24}$
cm$^{-2}$, that must be located within 1 pc of the core.
