  We present a mosaic of five XMM-Newton observations of the nearby
($z=0.0594$) merging galaxy cluster Abell 3266. We use the spectro-imaging
capabilities of \xmm to build precise (projected) temperature, entropy,
pressure and Fe abundance maps. The temperature map exhibits a curved,
large-scale hot region, associated with elevated entropy levels, very similar
to that foreseen in numerical simulations. The pressure distribution is
disturbed in the central region but is remarkably regular on large scales. The
Fe abundance map indicates that metals are inhomogeneously distributed across
the cluster. Using simple physical calculations and comparison with numerical
simulations, we discuss in detail merging scenarios that can reconcile the
observed gas density, temperature and entropy structure, and the galaxy density
distribution.
